18G2.] 151) 



head, duo to the tootli-like oxpansion at the bases of the antennre. Tn 

 this respect, these pup;x) have a ch)se resembhuiee to those of some (Wi</o- 

 mi/!x — a resemblauce which has already been noticed before. (See Loew, 

 Stett. P]ntom. Zeit., 1842.) Not all the species of Sr!<tra^ however, have 

 pupai of such a structure. 



The pupa3 of Mi/cetnphlla and SrinpliUa are enclosed in a cocoon, of 

 more or less density in different species.* Exceptions may occur, how- 

 ever, as for instance is the case with Mycet. inermiti Dufour, which, ac- 

 cording to this author, has apparently no cocoon, but, as he suggests him- 

 .self, it may have been so delicate as to have been destroyed by the 

 observer in the attempt to extricate the pupae from among the remains 

 of the fungus in which they were concealed. Sciara in some species 

 spins, in others, does not spin cocoons. An earthy case sometimes re- 

 places it (as in *SV. fuscipes Meig., observed by Heegei"). The pupae of 

 Sciara toxoneura 0. S. (fig. 22), were enclosed in small hollows just below 

 the surface of the cow-dung in which I found them. BoUtojJiUa^ according 

 to Dufour, has no cocoon (although I have reared the same insect, I find 

 no notice about its pupa in my papers). Ceroplatus and CurJijla spin 

 cocoons (Dufour). 



III. Eemarks on the Habits of the MYCETOPHILIDJS. 



All the larvae are gregarious, and live in decaying vegetable matters. 

 Mijcetophiln and Sriopht'la seem to prefer fungi and. other fungoid 

 gi'owths, as all the known lai-vas have been observed in such situations. 

 Sciara, on the contrary, is found among decaying leaves, in vegetable 

 mould, in cow-dung, under the bark of dead trees, etc. (One species even 

 forms a gall, as will be mentioned below.) That these larvaj shed their 

 skins several times before transforming into the pupa state, seems to be 

 beyond doubt, although I have never had occasion to observe it myself. 

 Heeger asserts it with the precision of an eye-witness about the larva 

 of Sciara fuscipea. 



INTycetophila. 



Heeger gives the following account of the habits of Myc. lunafa : — 



" They hibernate mostly as perfect insects or as pupae ; seldom as 



" larva; ; they appear in the spring and copulate after a few days, gener- 



" ally in the evening. After 6 days, or lU, if the weather is moist and 



^' rainy, the female lays its eggs on the fungi growing on old horse- 



* The pupa of Sciophila striata Meig., reared by Dufour, had no cocoon. 



