178 THE EARLY STAGES OF TABANID^ 



grubs. This is a surprising occurrence, as most of the species of 

 Tabanus are confined to damp ground or to aquatic surroundings. 



In his analytical key, Malloch gives the following characteristics of 

 this larva, "Body without markings either of color or hairs. Body 

 very closely and finely striated, entirely white." The size of the 

 larva is not given. 



Tabanus sp. No. 7 . — Unknown European species, observed by 

 Surcouf and Ricardo (1909). Only the pupa is figured (Plate 12, 

 Fig. 150). 



Larva. — Surcouf and Ricardo have reported on the capture and 

 rearing of a tabanid larva, of which, however, the species was not 

 determined. Roubaud had given them "a young larva of Tabanus^' 

 which he had collected on October 3, 1905, at Meudon in the muck 

 of a pond; this larva was reared for eight months in water, feeding 

 not on living prey but on organic matter introduced with a bunch 

 of moss which covered the bottom of the crystallizing dish in which 

 it was kept. On May 13, 1907, it was seeking a protected place in 

 this moss, lost its mobility, turned more translucent than usual, 

 and, on May 16, had transformed into a pupa, which, unfortunately, 

 perished in consequence of an accident. The larva is described as 

 elongate, whitish, very active, pointed at both ends, and provided 

 with a sort of crested ring on each of its segments; these rings are 

 equipped all along their course with retractile tubercles serving as 

 means of locomotion. 



Pupa (Plate 12, Fig. 150). — The pupa which Surcouf and Ricardo 

 obtained from this larva measured 17 mm. in length and 4 mm. in 

 diameter. This pupa has the aspect, according to the authors, of a 

 lepidopterous pupa; the upper anterior part was smooth above, com- 

 prising the thorax and head, the lower anterior parts bearing under 

 their chitinous coverings, the antennae, the palpi, the eyes, and the 

 first pair of legs. The wings are contained in a case which reaches 

 the top of the scutellar segment, unarmed. The posterior region of 

 the pupa comprises seven segments which have at the tip a crown of 

 rigid hairs intermingling with pointed tubercles with enlarged bases. 

 The last segment has two tubercles, each one consisting of three 

 irregular more or less curved spines. The third thoracic segment 

 and the first six abdominal segments all have a spiracle on each side. 



