98 SCIENTIFIC REPORTS OF THE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 



were observed to wriggle to come up to the water surface 

 when kept in a big aquarium; the majority of them lived 

 in separate batches of masses at the bottom and never tried 

 to wriggle up. They were observed to live under such con- 

 ditions from 16th June to 26th June, 1917, but gradually 

 began to decompose after this. A few survived under sub- 

 merged conditions till 29th June, 1917, and almost all were 

 found dead on 2nd July, 1917. Even when the water was 

 rendered more or less air-free by boiling, these larvae showed 

 considerable resistance to death from drowning. This ob- 

 servation may throw a little further light on the possibility 

 of the utilization of dissolved air by aquatic larvae. 



Freshly laid eggs, when submerged in water, failed to 

 hatch out, but they could stand submergence for 72 hours. 



Fourteen flies, both males and females, emerged in July, 

 1917, from the lot of larvae of T. nemocallosus taken during 

 the month of December, 1916. 



Freshly emerged flies of this species would not suck 

 blood for some time (under laboratory conditions). They 

 are capable of resisting starvation for a full period of five 

 days if they are kept in humid surroundings. The starved 

 flies when allowed to bite a goat readily filled themselves 

 with blood within five minutes. They show a marked ten- 

 dency to drink water in captivity. Newly emerged flies 

 when they have once acquired a habit of sucking sugary 

 food are always found to be very reluctant to suck blood 

 afterwards. 



T. nemocallosus in all probability has one brood in a year. 

 Larvse of this species collected during December, 1916, were 

 found about as long as a full-grown one. It is our common 

 experience that Tabanidae disappear during winter. No 

 fly of this species nor of any other Tabanidae was bred 

 during cold season. Tabanidae in general hibernate during 

 the winter in their larval stage. So the larvse of T. nemo- 

 callosus taken during December must be the outcome of 

 eggs deposited in September or October. Some larvae from 

 the above batch have still to pupate. From these data the 



