298 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [July, '08 



this manner. Prof. Smith, however, records at least one in- 

 stance in which it was taken at light. The moth resembles 

 the color of the dead rushes so closely that it was unnoticed 

 even in breeding jars for some time, and when sitting with the 

 wings closed it resembles a swelling on the stem quite closely. 



During the rearing of the above-mentioned species, two spe- 

 cies of Diptera were bred from its habitations that seem to 

 bear a definite relation to its life-history; one, a Tachinid, 

 was reared from the larva of the insect. 



This fly is figured herewith and Mr. C. H. T. Townsend, 

 who examined it through the kindness of Dr. Howard, deter- 

 mined it to be a species of Ccromasia (Masicera) .* The fly 

 was bred from two separate groups of larvae taken at an in- 

 terval of a week or so apart, one lot emerging on July 2Oth and 

 the other on the 26th. Another fly which was reared from the 

 tunnels in large numbers and which was found to inhabit the 

 majority of abandoned burrows, is the Ortalid fly Chaetopsis 

 acnia (Wied.), which is also the Ortalis tri fas data described 

 in Say's complete works. 



Dr. Howard states that he has reared the fly from corn- 

 stalks ; it has also been reared from sugar cane, and there is 

 one instance on record in which it is supposed to have caused 

 considerable injury to growing oats. However, I found no 

 evidence to show that the fly fed on any but stalks that had 

 been previously attacked by other insects. I notice two varie- 

 ties of C. aenia bred from the same stems of Typha, both of 

 which are spoken of by Loew in his "Monographs." One of 

 them has the legs entirely yellow, while the other has a con- 

 siderable amount of black upon the femora. They seem to be 

 very generally infested with small mites which are especially 

 numerous on the head of the fly and which remain on the same 

 even when dried in the cabinet. I have noticed specimens of 

 Musdna stabulans similarly infested and have recently taken 

 a very small Phorid that was literally alive with equally minute 

 mites. 



* The species seems to agree in every way with Coquillett's descrip- 

 tion of Masicera myoidaea (Desv.), which has been reared from the 

 larva of Hydroecia nitela. 



