288 ' STUDIES IN AUSTRALIAN MECOPTERA, i., 



actively over a leaf, allowed me to place a tube over it, and did 

 not attempt to fly or drop. 



" I could see nothing to attract the insects to this particular 

 stump more than any other, so presume they were emerging 

 there. Nearly all the specimens were taken between 12 and I 

 solar time." 



The locality here described was visited by Mr. Hardy and 

 myself towards the end of January of this year, and I can fully 

 bear out Mr. Hardy's excellent description. The insects were 

 evidently over, as we failed to find any of them after prolonged 

 search. A few days later we visited a similar water-channel 

 near the Springs on Mount Wellington (3,000 feet level), and 

 captured a number of the same species in a closely similar situa- 

 tion, viz., by beating tea-tree bushes overhanging the water- 

 channel. 



On January 10th of this year, Mr. Hardy and I visited 

 Cradle Mountain, an un worked locality in the north-west of 

 Tasmania. The collecting-ground lies between the 3,000 and 

 4,000 feet levels, and contains numerous lakes and swift mountain- 

 streams. Two new species closely allied to the Hobart form 

 were obtained here. Some of these were obtained by sweeping 

 bushes overhanging streams, but the majority were got by sweep- 

 ing the low bushes and herbage fringing the shores of Lakes 

 Lilla and Dove. Occasionally also, we noticed the insects on 

 the wing. Their flight is fairly strong, and they are not 

 easy to capture, owing to their inconspicuousness. We also 

 noticed the peculiar method of copulation, which resembles that 

 of the Asilidce very closely. If a male and a female be put 

 alive into a glass tube, the male at once seizes the female fiercely 

 with his anal forceps, taking hold of her in any position hap- 

 hazard. He then quickly moves his appendages to the posterior 

 end of the body of the female, opening the forceps to a great 

 width, and then closing them quickly upon the tip of her abdo- 

 men The result is a lock-grip, the two insects facing in oppo- 

 site directions. When once the male has got his correct hold, 

 no amount of annoyance will persuade him to let go. The pairs 

 could even be killed in the cyanide bottle without always relax- 

 ing their grip. 



