82 Orthorrhapha brachycera. 



globular, rounded behind, it has some (generally nine) deeper or 

 shallower, longitudinal furrows. On the ventral side of all or most 

 abdominal segments there are slight, transverse swellings (Kriech- 

 schwielen). The larvæ are amphipneiistic with very small prothoracic 

 spiracles, and with larger or smaller posterior spiracles lying on the 

 romided hinder side of the last segment, in the raiddle or a little 

 above; there is generally a small wart or tooth below the posterior 

 spiracles. Besides the pupæ mentioned above I have myself examined 

 the pupa of E. tessellata, trigramma and stercorea. The pupa is yel- 

 lowish or light brownish; at the front side of the head there are 

 two transverse, compressed, sharp processes at the base of the an- 

 tennal sheaths, and tw^o similar, smaller, above, these latter some- 

 times very small; each of these processes bears a strong hair; the 

 antennal sheaths lie below, directed to each side; on the lower side, 

 between the apices of the antennal sheaths are two bristles, and on 

 a tubercle on each side below the prothoracic spiracles are two 

 other bristles; above on thorax there are two bristles in front, and 

 behind them eight bristles placed in a semicircular line with the con- 

 vexity backwards; thus there are in all twenty bristles on head and 

 thorax. Each abdominal segment has on the dorsal side a dense 

 girdle of thin, straight, brownish spines, and between them some 

 long hairs; at the base of the spines there are some quite short 

 ones; the first segment has only hairs. On the ventral and lateral 

 sides each segment has a girdle of long hairs. There are small pro- 

 thoracic and seven pairs of likewise small abdominal spiracles. 



The larvæ live in the ground, especially in humous earth in 

 woods, also sometimes in decaying tree-stubs; Kieffer found the larva 

 of E. meridionalis below the leaf-sheaths of Scirpus silvaticus; they 

 are no doubt carnivorous. The pupæ are found in the same piaces, 

 and the armature of spines on the abdomen is evidently used in working 

 the way up to the surface at the time for escape, as already suggested 

 by Macquart 1. c. The larvæ hibernate and the development follows 

 in the foUowing spring or summer. 



The species of Empis occur especially in woods, frequently on 

 somewhat humid and shaded piaces, and they are generally seen on 

 low piants. Some occur outside woods, on meadows in grass and 

 low herbage. Some species are essentially spring species, others 

 occur in the summer, while a few first fly in the autumn. Some of 

 the species (of the subgenus Pterempis, perhaps all species of this 

 subgenus, but also some species of Empis s. str.) hover in the air in 

 swarms, and for some of these the copulation is known to take place 

 in the air (e. g. E. {Pterempis) genualis, Bezzi, Deutsch. ent. Zeitschr. 



