506 STUDIES IN LIFE-HISTORIES 01" AUSTRALIAN- UIPTERA nKACHYCERA^ 1.. 



I wish here to acknowledge my imlebteduess to Mr. G. H. Hardy, who is 

 at present engaged ou the taxonomic study of the species, Metopunia rubriceps 

 Macq. with which this paper deals. It was his observation and identification of 

 the fiy in Sydney, in 1919, which afforded me the opportunity of studying its 

 life-history, and 1 owe to him many helpful suggestions, and assistance with sys- 

 tematic work and with literature. I have also to thank Mr. C. Hedley, Acting 

 Curator of the Australian iluseum, for the facilities afforded me at the Museum 

 for carrying out the investigation; and members of the Museum staff, generally, 

 lor their constant helpfulness during the progi-ess of the work. To my mother 

 I owe the preservation of living larvae over a period of two months, when, 

 through illness and an enforced absence from Sydney, ^ was unable to attend 

 to them myself. For the execution of Plate xxvii., in collaboration with myself, 

 1 have to thank my friend. Miss Edith Horrocks. 



Historical. 



At the end of this paper 1 append a list, with accompanying bibliography, of 

 ail the species of tSlratiomyiidae which have been recorded in the early stages. 

 The latest list of this kind, of which I am aware, was published by Brauer in 

 1883, nearly forty years ago. In addition to being now very much out of date, 

 its value is impaired by the incomplete way in which the references are quoted, 

 and the lack of dates, and of a bibliography. Nevertheless, I have found it of 

 great service, in the preparation of a revised and more up-to-date list, and 

 have taken from it many references which I have had no opportunity of seeing 

 elsewliere. The bibliography, which I have added, has been extended to cover, 

 as far as possible, all works dealing in any way with the biology of the Stratio- 

 viyiidae. Here again I have been obbged to rely on earlier workers, and on 

 catalogues such as those of the Royal Society and the British Museum, and the 

 Zoological Record, for many references, since a large part of the literature 

 (juoted is not available to me. But I have endeavoured to make it as accurate 

 as possible by a comparison of records in the various catalogues. Arranged in 

 chronological order, and with explanatory notes, it forms in itself a brief his- 

 torical review of all the work done to date ou this subject. In appearance this 

 is of considerable bulk, but its scope is limited. Certainly, more attention has 

 been paid to the early stages of the Stratiomyiidae than to those of any other 

 family of the Brachycera. Stratiomyid larvae seem to lie plentiful in most parts 

 of the world, and very often live under conditions which excite interest, or where 

 they are readily found. But in many instances the reference to them consists 

 merely of a record of their occurrence, and habitat, with or witiiout a brief de- ■ 

 scription of the larva. Thus Packard (1871). Lucas (1879), and Griffith (1882) 

 note their occurrence in the salt water, and hot water of lakes and springs; 

 Pearson (1882),, the finding of a larva on a very exposed ])art of an ocean 

 lieach, Florentin (1899), a great mass of them in excessively saline pools in 

 Lorraine, Markel (1844), tlieir association with a nest of ants. The larvae 

 which liave been most frequently recorded and described are those living in water, 

 especially the gener:i Odontomyia and Stratiomyia ; and of these the species Stra- 

 tlomyia chamaeleon L. has received the most attention. Being easily obtainable, 

 these species have been used by workers engaged in a study of the comparative 

 anatomy of the larvae of various insects, notably l)v Kunckel d'llerculais (1879), 

 and Viallanes (1882 18851 . Rut the descripti<ms have been, as a rule, confined 



