March, igi/.] WiLLIAMS : NORTH AMERICAN LaMPYRIDvE. 21 



tergites have their posterior lateral angles somewhat pointed and 

 drawn out. The pleurx and venter are partly membranous. The 

 last abdominal segment is provided with a highly developed pair of 

 fleshy, retractile and multified prolegs. The tergites are variegated 

 wood-brown, with a dark streak bordering the paler median line. 

 Ventrally it is more pinkish. The insect bears some resemblance to a 

 slender larva of Photuris and is undoubtedly predaceous and to a 

 degree a climbing insect. The elongate, almost minute head, which 

 . tortoise-like, can be retracted far out of sight into the prothorax, 

 would appear well fitted for exploring crannies in the bark, etc., for 

 prey, while the long thoracic and much divided anal prolegs facilitate 

 its scansorial habits. 



I kept the larva in a tumbler partly filled with loamy soil, which, 

 having previously contained a lepidopterous larva, had the sides more 

 or less spun over with silk. Towards the first of May, the Pyractoni- 

 ena had crawled up near the top of the tumbler and evidently by 

 means of an anal secretion or a dried-up liquid of some sort had 

 firmly suspended itself, venter towards the glass, by the tail. Its 

 head was retracted (the pupating PJioturis larva has the head ex- 

 truded) and the two ventral lights on the eighth abdominal segment 

 were often visible, and frequently most of the membranous portion 

 of the body facing the glass showed a delicate effulgence. When I 

 disturbed it the effulgence would brighten up considerably and so 

 would the two tail lights. After having remained suspended in this 

 quiescent stage for the matter of a week it transformed into a large 

 pupa, the larval skin splitting laterally or ventrally and not dorsally, 

 as with pupating Lepidoptera, and remaining shrivelled and attached 

 to the posterior portion of the abdomen. The remarkable thing about 

 this pupa, apart from its being suspended, is its darkly pigmented con- 

 dition, which strongly suggests that it is always formed above ground 

 and in a situation exposed to light. 



The pupa is moderately stout and only slightly arcuate ; the pro- 

 notum is long, and the tergites have their lateral posterior edges 

 somewhat reflexed and pointed, making it appear rather spinous. The 

 pronotum bears a yellowish white median line, which is bordered by 

 a wider blackish stripe, beyond which is a wide yellowish-white edge. 

 The remaining tergites as in the dorsum of Photinus larvae are shining 

 black and have a rather wide, dull yellowish-white median line while 



