16 (JiUioirhapha brachyceia. 



The Stratiomyids are of small to middlesize: they feed as imagines 

 on vegelable juices and occur on piants and especially on flowers; 

 most of the species chiefly occur near water. — From the palæarctic 

 region about 232 species are known and from North America about 

 302; of these only five are common to both regions. 



Only few cases of parasitic Hymenoptera on Stratiomyids are 

 known. I am aquainted with the following from Denmark. From 

 pupæ of a Nemotelus has been bred a little Ichneumonid. Smicra 

 sispes L. has been bred from pupæ of S. Jongicornis and furcata, one 

 from eacli pupa; the Smicra has once been taken stinglng an egg- 

 mas.s. it thus deposites its eggs in the eggs of the Stratiomyia. From 

 S. furcata has been bred a Pteronialine, that canie in great number 

 from the pupa'). From Chloromijia formosa has similarly been bred 

 a Pteronialine and from Microchnjsa polifa a Tetrastichus sp. in great 

 numbers from eachpupa. Finally from one oi iha Sargits s^.{iridatus?) 

 has been bred a small Ichneumonid. of which there was one parasite 

 in the pupa. — Moreover llie following cases have been reported : 

 From S. chamæleon has been bred Phygadeuon dumetorum Grav. ; 

 from //. viridtda Monodontomerus obscurus Westw., and besides from 

 the above mentioned Stratiomyia species Smicra sispes has also been 

 bred from -S. chamæleon. 



Stratiomyids earlier recorded from Denmark. — Kramer in 1760 

 (Spec. Insectol. Dan.) enumerates two species: Musca chamæleon and 

 cupraria. Briinniche, 1761 (Prodr. Insectol. Siælland.), has four: Musca 

 chamæleon, cupraria, polita and a new species, not named; in Pon- 

 toppidan, Danske AU. I. 1763, one more is enumerated, vi?.. hydroleon, and 

 the new species is named græca. About these species can be said, 

 that chamæleon is a Stratiomyia, and probably chamæleon or furcata, 

 cupraria is a Sargtis, and polita probably this species, hydroleon is an 

 Odontoniyia, and græca is Oxycera trilineata (see under this species). 

 O. F. Miiller. 1764 (Faun. Fridrichsd.), has four species: Musca chameleon, 

 hydroleon, pantherina and cupraria, and in 1767 in the appendix to 

 Flora Fridrichsd. he has two more species, microleon and polita; of 

 these species is chameleon this species or furcata, hydroleon one of the 

 green Odontomyia species, pantherina is a Nemotelus and cupraria a 



') It is evidenlly a similai' case, that has mislead Knoch and induced him and Meigen 

 to Ihink, lliat the Stratiomyia];ir\n was a worni, l>ecause he had seen one of 

 theni l)ear;i(K) young; they took then the Strationiyia-laTva for a „Wasseiwurm' 

 and thought that tlie real, bul unknown Slratioiiiyia-lAT\å was parasitic in it. 

 (Meig. Syst. Beschr. III, 133.) When Biauer (Denkschr. d. Kais. Akad. d. Wiss. Math. 

 Nat. Classe, Wien, XLVII, 1S83, 57) speaks of Knoch's fable, this is so far incor- 

 reet, as Knoch's observation certainly is right, only his conclusion is erroneous. 



