56 



BclladomHi Leaf- Mui er 



of the middle and hind legs of the male are hunched up, the femora 

 ascending backwardly and the tibiae descending forwardly making a 

 sharply acute angle with the femora. The head of the male extends 

 forward above the level of the scutellum. The ventral side of the male's 

 thorax rests upon the dorsal region of the female's abdomen, and the 

 concave ventral surface of the male abdomen arches round the convex 

 dorsal surface of the female's in such a manner that the hypopygium (the 

 modified ninth abdominal segment) of the male with its claspers and 

 intromittent organ extends under the extremity of the female abdomen 

 and is closely applied to the latter for purposes of coition. 



The act of pairing continues for about half an hour and even longer, 

 and, if disturbed, the female endeavours to liberate itself by pressing 



Fig. 1. Pegomyia hyoscyami in copulation. Tho investing l)ristlos arc oniittod. x 12. 



with its posterior tarsi against the tarsi of the male, in its attempt to 

 loosen them. 



Martelli (1908) in his paper " Altre Notizie Dietologiche della Mosca 

 delle Olive," p. 93, describes copulation in Dacus oleae. The position 

 adopted by the male of this species is quite different from that of 

 P. hyoscyami owing to the female's having a long, exserted ovipositor, 

 which is general in the Trypetidae. In this case the anterior tarsi 

 of the male embrace laterally the first abdominal segment of the female, 

 while the others rest upon the ground. 



Oviposition does not always take place immediately after copulation, 

 and indeed all evidence points to the necessity of an interval of one or 



