OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XV, 1913 151 



Mr. Busck also presented a recent work by Dr. C. Wesenberg 

 Lund of Denmark, 1 which he strongly commended to the members' 

 attention as an excellent biological study. Mr. Busck referred in 

 detail to some of the subjects in the article and passed around the 

 interesting plates of the egg-laying habits of this group of insects. 



NOTES ON A WOOD-BORING SYRPHID. 



BY H. S. BARBER, Bureau of Entomology. 



A hickory log in early stages of decay, which was found in 

 the vicinity of Washington, had lost its bark, and the weather 

 beaten surface of the wood showed numerous holes, with caked 

 damp sawdust that had been thrust out. This work was mis- 

 taken for the borings of the larvae of the Lymexylonid, Meli- 

 tomma sericeum Harris, but when chopped into, the log disclosed 

 numerous short cylindrical grubs of a form that the speaker had 

 never> seen before. These were shown to numerous entomological 

 friends, but no one could place them with any certainty. Speci- 

 mens were caged for breeding and the log was frequently examined 

 for changes in the larvae. At last a pupa was found and this latter 

 disclosed a Syrphid fly (Temnostotna bombylans) the larva of which 

 appears to have been previously unknown. Before this was bred, 

 however, larvae were shown to Mr. A. B. Champlain, who on his 

 return to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, found similar larva? boring 

 abundantly in very soft rotten willow wood. He also bred the 

 flies, and has forwarded his material to Mr. W. R. Walton. Dr. 

 Boeving and Mr. Shannon also found similar larvae on the Virginia 

 shore opposite Washington. Comparison of the larvae, however, 

 shows great differences in the armature of the spiracles. From 

 this it becomes evident that more than one species is involved in 

 the colonies. Adults bred from these different colonies corroborate 

 this idea, and are more or less different, so that it appears to the 

 speaker that about four species are involved in America under the 

 name Temnostoma bombylans. This name was originally applied 

 to a European form. There are, however, a number of names 

 available for American forms that have been sunk as synonyms of 

 bombylans, but it is not known to what forms these refer. 



In the first log found, the wood was very hard and brittle but 

 showed signs of ferment, and contained much moisture. The gal- 

 leries were cylindrical, clean-bored holes, and all boring dust wa- 

 extruded at the surface of the log. Under these conditions the 

 larva? need strong protection against predatory enemies. This is 



^iologisheStudien iiber Dytisriden (Footnote: Published in Internation- 

 ale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie und Hydrographie, Leipzig, 1912.) 



