WERNER MARCHAND 71 



The body of the larva is completely covered, except in the anal region, with 

 very fine and densely placed longitudinal striae easily seen with the lens. They 

 certainly play a part in the contractions and dilatations of the body. 



The larvae of this species liave been found and described again by 

 Behng (1875). One larva was obtained by him on March 24, 1873, 

 from hog dung which had been collected from a meadow and piled 

 up at the edge. This larva" was kept in a room which was not heated, 

 and pupated on June 24, producing a male imago on July 6, after a 

 resting period of twelve days. From December, 1873, Beling fre- 

 quently found single larvae in the soil of cultivated fields, several 

 times also in the earth of hedges bordering on meadows. The larvae 

 which were collected were kept in a glass jar partly filled with humus 

 and continued to live for months in this medium, without injuring 

 one another. However, at the time when metamorphosis was to 

 take place, they killed one another, apparently for the purpose of 

 feeding on the killed individuals by sucking out their contents, and 

 of the ten larvae finally only one remained, which pupated on June 

 25, 1874, and produced a female imago on July 5, after 11 days of 

 pupal condition. 



According to Beling, the larvae resemble closely those of Tabanus 

 hromius in color, appearance, and habits, but are at once distin- 

 guished by being shorter and thinner, and by the much finer punc- 

 tated^^ longitudinal striation. Concerning localities of capture, 

 Beling states that the Hcematopola larvae occur chiefly in humus of 

 cultivated fields, while the larvae of the terrestrial Tabanus species 

 mentioned are found usually in grass-covered or meadow soil. 

 Beling 's description of the larva is translated below. 



Larva. — 10 to 12 mm. in length, 2.5 mm. in width, somewhat contractile; when 

 fully extended, up to 15 mm. and even more in length, twelve-segmented, pale 

 yellow, strongly and glassy shining, with very fine irregular (punctated) longitu- 

 dinal striation, somewhat narrowed in front and behind, and especially during 

 locomotion narrowed down to spindle shape in the anterior part, with small 

 narrow brown head completely retractile into the first segments, appearing, when 

 seen from the dorsal side of the first two segments, as a brown longitudinal 

 stripe, broadened behind and ending in two points. The last body segment is 

 shorter and narrower than the preceding one, rounded at the posterior border, 



^^ The German word used is " Nadelrissig." 



