188 Records of the Indian Museum. [VornsVe 
Stegomyta larvee move about quite rapidly. The moment a Stego- 
myia larva comes swimming about near a larva of T. immisericors, 
the latter makes a slight, sharp, sideward jerky movement of the 
head. which enables it to seize its prey, if within reach. The 
captured larva struggles for some time to extricate itself. 
The large larve are not always successful in catching the 
Stegomyta larvee, as it often happens that the Stegomyra larvee are 
quite prepared for the attack, and any slight movement on the 
part of their enemy is sufficient warning to make them sink below 
“catching range.’ Larve of T. tmmisericors have been seen to 
devour each about half a dozen Stegomyia larvee within an hour. 
The Stegomyta larvee do not leave their enemies in peace. 
They get near the body of the larger larva, especially the hind 
portion, and keep nibbling at the bristles that grow on each 
abdominal segment. This seems to annoy the other larva and 
with a jerky movement of its body it disperses the Stegomyia 
larve, which come back swimming over its head. The first 
Stegomyta larva that comes within reach is instantly seized and 
sucked quite dry. The empty larval skin is then rejected by the 
larva of T. immisericors by a backward movement of the forepart 
of the body. This empty skin seems to be sought for by the 
other Stegomyra larvee, who devour it quite greedily. So occupied 
was one Slegomyia larva in devouring one of these empty larval 
skins that it did not notice that it had drifted towards a larva of 
T.immisericors. As soon as the former came within reach, the 
larva of T.immisericors seized it and killed it. Many Stegomyia 
larve are killed by the larve of T. immisericors simply because 
they come and annoy the larger larve when they are resting 
quietly at the surface of the water. 
The larve of 7. immisericors do not usually only suck the 
larvee of Stegomyia. When they are hungry they generally eat 
them up entirely. In the course of one night dbver one hundred 
Stegomyia larvee, besides three larvee of JT. immisericors, were 
eaten up by three other larve of T.immisericors. In the evening 
of the Igth July, Igro, the same three larve were left in a finger- 
bowl of water with about twenty Stegomyia larve. Evidently 
during the night two of these larve of JT. immisericors had 
pupated, and the third larva, after it had finished all the Stego- 
myia larve, and finding nothing to eat the next morning, seized 
one of the pupz and had sucked it nearly dry by Io a.m. The 
pupa was seized on the left side of the head, nearer the eye, but 
between the eye and the respiratory syphon. The larva had got 
such a firm hold of it that it had some difficulty in getting rid of 
the empty case. It wriggled about a great deal, till at last it was 
able to cast away the empty pupal case. 
Although it had had such a large supply of food at Io A.m., 
it was again ready for some more. At II A.M. some twenty larve 
of Desvotdea obturbans, from a cess-pool, were introduced into the 
bowl, as well as another larva of T. immisericors, which had been 
starving all the previous night. Within a couple of minutes each 
