92 THE EARLY STAGES OF TABANID^ 



The larvae were first found in 1851, by Brauer and Goszy, on the 

 shores and shallow places of the "Wienfluss" (Danube ?); also the 

 pupae were found. Kollar, 1854, gives only these few remarks on 

 the subject. 



Raillet says (quoted from Brumpt) : The larva of this species lives 

 in the water; it breathes the air at the surface of the water, like the 

 larvae of mosquitoes; they may be destroyed likewise by spreading 

 kerosene oil on the swamps where they occur. 



It is possible that the larvae in which Graber discovered the organ 

 named after him were of this species (Paoli). 



Surcouf and Ricardo (1909) report on their observation of an egg 

 mass of Tahanus autmnnalis L. at Lamballe (C6tes-du-Nord) in 

 August, 1907. The eggs formed a dense mass attached to a reed, 

 and the female, turning the head towards the moist ground, re- 

 mained immobile, making no effort to escape when it was captured. 

 Unfortunately, the observers waited until the following morning to 

 take the plant with its roots, and in the meantime the grass had 

 been cut. 



Graber (1882) gives the illustration of a newly hatched larva of 

 Tabanus, which is supposed to belong to Tahanus autumnalis (Plate 

 8, Fig. 99). In this larva Graber studied the chordotonal organs, 

 tactile bristles, and other microscopical details (Plate 8, Figs. 99 to 

 102) . These details are discussed in the chapter on Tabanidae, descrip- 

 tion of early stages (see also Tahanus sp. Nos. 10 and ^<?,page 179). 



Tahanus autumnalis (Plate 8, Figs. 99 to 102; Plate 9, Figs. 103 to 

 108) is the species in which the organ of Graber was probably dis- 

 covered for the first time. Krauss (1879) informs us that Brauer, in 

 the spring of 1875, demonstrated in his entomological class the larvae 

 of Tahanus autmnnalis, which had been bred from eggs, and called 

 attention to a peculiar and undescribed organ in the abdomen. 

 Drawings of the organ were made by Krauss but not published; 

 according to the latter, they agree so completely with those pub- 

 Kshed by Graber that it is likely that Graber' s " Fliegenmade" was 

 in fact the larva of Tahanus autumnalis. 



Krauss adds the statement that the larvae of this species, in contrast 

 to tabanids — the larvae of which live in damp localities, manure, 

 decaying plant material, or in the ground — spend all their develop- 



