116 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 20, NO. 6, JUNE, 



explore dense tangled hammocks with sub-tropical vegetation, or 

 pine barrens with palmetto and rough limestone outcroppings. 

 After such strenuous days one can calmly enjoy the sight of the 

 sun going down in a blaze of red far across the Everglade prairie. 



At dusk frogs begin to serenade, in varied pitch; "chuck will 

 widows" are incessantly calling and the radiant moonlight invites 

 one to stroll in the cool of the evening. A faint, but persistent 

 humming outside of the mosquito netting restrains our enthusi- 

 asm. Without is the realm of a mosquito (Aedes niger Giles) 

 which is as bloodthirsty at night as in the daytime. The pale 

 greenish-yellow nocturnal Tabanus flavus Macq. 2 is also on the 

 wing, alert for any unwary live stock. 



Such are the opportunities offered for biological study in the 

 Lower Everglades, especially Paradise Key, with -its lofty royal 

 palm trees. On many similar mornings, days and nights the 

 senior author, C. A. Mosier, has observed and recorded the 

 flight, feeding habits and activities of Tabanus americanus and 

 other Tabanidae. Last year there was evidence for the belief 

 that the early morning flight or swarm was a mating flight. 3 

 This year's observations cast some doubt on this conclusion, 

 although it has not been definitely disproven. It may be possible 

 that the swarm consists of males only as Knab has noted in the 

 case of mosquitoes. 4 Due to the height at which the adults 

 fly, very few have been caught, less than half a dozen, hovering 

 low. These have all been males. The habit that the flies have 

 when hovering of darting towards each other and clinging may 

 be mating. Many more observations are necessary. The senior 

 author has evidence to believe that often while hovering the 

 adults reverse and fly upside down, changing to normal when 

 ready to dart away. He has also found that the males feed in 

 large numbers on the blossoms of the saw palmetto protected by 

 the shade of the large leaves. The junior author has found 

 Tabanid larvae in water and mud under the saw grass in the 

 Everglades. The following notes were mostly made by the senior 

 author. 



On March 1, 1918, the first this year's adult was heard buzzing, 

 but the insect was not seen; from March 3 to 8 the adults fre- 

 quently appeared. 







- Knab, F. "What is Tabanus mexicanus?" Insecutor Inscitiae 

 Menstruos, vol. iv, nos. 7-9, 1916, pp. 95-100. (T . mexicanus not present 

 in the U.S.). 



3 Snyder, T. E. and Mosier, C. A. "A Peculiar Habit of a Horsefly 

 (Tabanus americanus) in the Florida Everglades." Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., 

 Vol. xix, pp. 141-145. 



4 Kaab, F. "The Sivarming of Culex pi-pin m" Psyche, Oct. I'.Uii. pp. 

 123-133. 



"The Swarming of Anopheles punctipennis Say.'' Psyche., 

 Fob., 1907. 



