tAi,rtl, 



The larva tlieii commences a series of violent jerks ; the body, at 

 first held in a curved [)osition, is suddenly straightened out (without 

 being lengthened), and at the same moment the anal segment is bent 

 rapidly downwards. The first position is then more slowly resumed, and 

 after a brief moment of rest the movement is repeated; this continues 

 until the tip of the air-tube is firm.ly embedded in the grass root. The 

 position immediately after the jerking mcn-ement is indicated in the 



End of abdonicii of larva of Taeniorhynchus ricldardii to show method of attachment 

 to Glijcerio. roots. (Considerably diagrammatic.) 



D. dorsal (or anterior) valves, bearing stout curved bristles ; V, ventral (or 

 posterior) valves forming a sheath for the saw ; T, main tracheal trunks ; Ax, axial 

 rod ; A, extreme tip of brea.thing-tube fiirther enlarged, to show three pairs of hooks 

 in the membrane, and the two strong black hooks at the tip of one of the internal 

 pieces ; B, tip of the stovit bristle on the dorsal valves enlarged to same scale as A. 



figure by dotted lines, but the anal segment should have been shown 

 as having moved considerably further. The effect of this movement is 

 probably to force the contents of the air-tube, including the whole of the 

 apparatus at the end of the tracheal tubes, outwards. 



During or immediately after the jerk the axial rod can be seen to 

 sway to and fro. This action probably has the effect of " approximating 

 the terminal elements, so as to form a sharply-pointed cone for thrusting 

 into the root,"' a function which was suggested for the axial rod by 



