337 



rather severely with the hitid femora and tibisc. So far I have failed 

 to find the larva, no o[)portunity offering to search for it, but from 

 the fact that many imagines were found on cut-over land where the 

 old tree-stumps remained, upon which the insects often settled, I be- 

 lieve that larvcC must be common in the various localities where I have 

 seen the imagines. 



The larva has been recorded as feeding upon the larvae of insects 

 in old tree-stumps, and the imago has also been recorded as predaceous. 

 1 am unable to confirm the last record, as all the specimens taken 

 bv both Mr. Hart and myself were upon flowers or at rest upon tree- 

 stumps. It is not impossible that the species is predaceous, but from 

 [personal observation and an examinatian of the mouth parts, which 

 difter essentially from those of Proctacanthiis and allied forms, I infer 

 that if it is predaceous it is rarely so and must be only in cases where 

 the prey is soft-bodied. It is necessary that exact observations be 

 made to determine the facts of the case, negative evidence such as I 

 am in possession of being inconclusive. 



ASILIDiE 

 Promachus vertebratus Say 



Asilus vcrtchratus Say, Jour. Acail. Nat. Sci. Phil., Vol. 3, 1823, p. 47. 



Larz'a (PI. LXXXII, Fig. 12). — Length, averaging 40 mm. (pre- 

 served specimens). White, head and spiracles brown. Head with 10 

 long hairs, 5 ventral and 5 dorsal, as shown in Figures 24 and 25 ; 

 mandibles opposed, long and stout ; maxillary palpi of moderate size ; 

 antennae very small. Each thoracic segment with 2 hairs, one on each 

 side on ventral surface; prothoracic respiratory organ located near 

 posterior margin on side; anal respiratory organs (Fig. 13) located in 

 a depression on portion rmterior to last segment (cSth abdominal seg- 

 ment?), the latter with 8 long hairs, 4 ventral and 4 dorsal (Figs. 11 

 and 14). 



The larva here described is without doubt that of vcrtchratus, al- 

 though no direct connection has been established between it and the 

 imago. There is in the collection, however, a poorly preserved speci- 

 men that agrees in all particulars with the above, which is one of sev- 

 eral specimens obtained by J. J. Davis, the others being reared and pro- 

 ducing imagines of vcrtchratus. The larva is found not uncommonly 

 in spring where ploughing is being done. 



Pupa. — Length, 27 mm. Yellowish brown, head and thorax shin- 

 ing, abdomen subopaque. Head similar to that of Asilus notattis (PI. 



