BY R. J. TILLYARD. 349 



as Inte as February. As with S. eustalacta, so with this species, 

 females are rarely met with. I have never seen a pair in cop. 

 Females when ovipositing are very shy. They select the deep 

 shady pools, especially on the tributary creeks, overhung with a 

 dense growth of tea-tree. By creeping cautiously along, on a 

 very hot sunny day, and peering down into these pools, I have 

 several times seen the female ovipositing, but have never been 

 able to capture her. She flies rapidly about, close to the water, 

 brushing the tip of her abdomen against the surface of the jiool, 

 and apparently laying a very large number of ova over a very 

 small area. I have never seen her molested by males; indeed 

 the spot chosen is generally too shady and retired for any to be 

 found there. 



The larva lives in deep mud in the pools, and is a most 

 unsightly object when dredged out of its lair. If carefully 

 cleaned, it exhibits on the abdomen a slight colour-pattern, 

 shewing a pale dorsal band and pale sutures. The following 

 description is taken from a specimen which I took in the act of 

 emerging : — 



Total length 22 mm.; abdomen 13 mm.; width of head 5 mm.; 

 wing-cases 6 mm. long; antennae 2 mm. Colour dark brown; 

 only sligJitly hairy. Head similar in form to that of the larva 

 of S. eustalactayq.v.), but smaller in comparison. Labium of 

 exactly similar pattern, slightly smaller; vientum with median 

 lobe advanced to a blunt rounded apex, mental setce 8 primary 

 and 5 secondary; lateral lobes with 7 stifl' lateral setce; terminat 

 hook just above the top seta, very sharp; distal border with 7 

 distinct teeth, similar in form to those of iS'. eustalacta but 

 slightly deeper(Plate ix., tig.2). Thorax: prothorax broader 

 than head; meso- and metathorax 6'5 mm. wide, rather flat. Legs 

 short, with stout femora, slightly hairy. Abdomen consider- 

 ably broader and flatter than that of »S'. eustalacta, ridges of 

 segments less raised and hairs very short, so that the body is 

 comparatively smooth ; underside fairly flat; greatest breadth 

 7*5 mm. at fifth and sixth segments. Appendages : superior 

 1'3 mm., straight; two inferior I'omm., straight; two lateral 

 1 mm., straight; all conical. 



