472 FORTr-EIOHTH EEPOKT ON THE STATE MUSEUM 



larvfe will feed readily upon recently killed caterpillars. Packard 

 {loa. cit., p. 162) states that the food of the larva is dead animals. 



On another occasion a larva was seen moving particles of earth 

 from the mouth of its burrow, seizing them with its mandibles and 

 placing them on one side. The larvtB burrow slowly; they do not 

 excavate the earth but compress it by a series of muscular contrac- 

 tions. They cannot travel readily over moist sand, because particles 

 adhere to the legs and interfere with their movement. This is 

 especially true of the anal-fork, which frequently becomes filled with a 

 mass of sand. If the larvje have a firm surface as a piece of paper or 

 glass their rate of locomotion will compare favorably with that of 

 many caterpillars. The method of progression sometimes resembles 

 that of a geometer. The thoracic legs and the anal-fork are the 

 principal organs of locomotion, the latter being capable of supporting 

 the entire body, and upon a hard surface it is used in much the same 

 way as the anal prolegs of a caterpillar. The rudimentary prolegs 

 seem of little use. When seized the larva opens its tiny jaws in a 

 very suggestive way. If dropped into water it quickly sinks and 

 straightens out apparently dead, but soon revives when removed. 



As the larvjB were kept under nearly natural conditions, it is quite 

 likely that they live in much the same way in nature. They burrow 

 in the ground or wander over the surface and live upon what they can 

 find. The special sense organ on the antenna probably enables them 

 to locate the coveted food readily. One afternoon the haunts of 

 Panorpa were visited. Several vials were sunk with their mouths just 

 at the surface of the ground, and bits of meat were placed in them. 

 Later in the day a Panorpa larva was found in one of the vials. Not 

 only do they wander in search of food, but it is also quite likely that 

 they lie in wait at the mouths of their burrows and capture whatever 

 may fall within their power. 



Length of Larval Existence. 



For the remainder of the life-history of this species I can do no 

 better than quote McLachlan's translation of Brauer's observations 

 upon an European species;* 



" They are full grown in thirty days, and then burrow deeper into 

 the ground, excavate an oval cell in a small lump of earth, and remain 

 as larvfe for several months before assuming the pupa state. In this 

 condition they shrivel to one-half of their previous length, the under- 

 side increases in thickness, and the end of the body is somewhat curved 



*ln Trans. Land. Ent. Soc, 1868, j). 213. 



