6 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 277 



members of the genus Prepseudatrichia from Africa have all been 

 reared from larvae collected in the wood of Acacia and Sterculia 

 attacked by buprestid larvae. 



Information concerning the habitat of the larvae or the hosts on 

 which they feed has been recorded for less than ten percent of the 

 known species of Scenopinidae. From the meager records at hand, 

 however, some important clues to possible areas of concentration arc 

 indicated. Among the more obvious localities are: where dermestids 

 occur, such as grain storages, warehouses and museums; birds' nests, 

 particularly those occupied for relatively long periods of time; the 

 nests or dens of animals; scar wood or under bark attacked by wood 

 boring larvae; and the nests of termites. 



The larvae are elongate, light bodied, hard, smooth, and wormlike 

 with an elongate, pointed, strongly sclerotized, yellow head. When 

 these larvae are found they should be maintained with the host 

 culture, which should be held for a month or two after the emergence 

 of the host adult, as the Scenopinid adults do not emerge until the 

 next generation of the host has begun development. The pupae of the 

 Scenopinidae appear very spiny, particularly along the abdominal 

 segments. 



The scarcity of specimens in most collections appears to be the 

 result of failure to collect in the right place at the proper time. Most 

 of the specimens observed have been obtained by sweeping foliage or 

 flowers w^hich strictly limits the chances of contact. The adult period 

 appears to be relatively short in most cases and occurs at a regular 

 time each year. There is good evidence that in areas with uniform 

 plant or animal associations, large numbers of adults are present at 

 the same time. In one instance, in California, over 150 specimens of a 

 single species were taken on a two-day period along a distance of 

 more than 100 miles. Other extensive series have also been seen that 

 were taken in a short period by field crop inspectors sweeping the 

 same crop over an extensive area. In other instances, members of 

 the same species have been taken at the same locality in successive 

 years on about the same date. The use of some permanent type of 

 trap such as a Malaise trap would probably result in better sampling 

 than that accomplished by most collectors with hand nets. 



Classification 



Provisional keys have been made up for those genera of Scenopinidae 

 containing more than two species with the exception of Caenoneura 

 and Pseudomphrale. I believe that the species listed in this paper 

 comprise only a small part of the ultimate known fauna of Scenopinidae. 

 For this reason, the simple characteristics of wing, halter and antennal 

 color have been used as the primary basis for separation to species. 



