184 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
among predaceous Diptera, the structure of the mouth part being 
different from that in flies which attack and kill other insects . 
During the past summer (of 1906){I received through the kindness 
of Mr. E. Ernest Green a female example of the abundant fly 
Ochromyia jeyuna, together with a winged termite identified by 
Mr. W. F. Kirby as Termes taprobanes, Hg. The insects had been 
taken at Welfawaya, Ceylon, in November, 1905, and Mr. Green 
described the termite as the prey of the Muscid.” Colonel 
Yerbury, who determined the fly, is still sceptical as to the correct- 
ness of the observation, but Mr. Green points out that it has been 
independently confirmed in India (Secunderabad) by Captain K. E.. 
Nangle, 96th Berar Infantry, who published the following note 
(quoted by Professor Poulton) in the Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. 
Soc., vol. XVI., 1905, p. 747, dated 17th July, 1905: “ Last 
night after heavy rain there was a large flight of flying ants at 
about 9.30 p.m. After the swarm appeared we heard a loud 
humming noise and went out into the verandah to see what it was 
and found these flies [Ochromyia jejuna] in swarms. We at first 
thought from the noise, until we caught some, that it was bees 
swarming, although it was so late at night. | We found these flies 
were hunting the flying ants, regularly hawking at them in the air. 
When a fly seized an ant it proceeded to devour the soft hind quarters.” 
Colonel Yerbury adds in a letter to Professor Poulton: “‘ The tongue 
of O. jejuna and O. fuscipennis is an extraordinary organ, but it is 
not that of a predaceous fly, but more closely resembles that of 
Glossina without the piercing tip which the Tsetse flies possess. 
Possibly this is the explanation of my observation [made on the 
verandah of the resthouse, Kanthalai, 19th October, 1890] in 
Ceylon of these flies taking away grains of sugar from large ants 
(Lobopelta and Camponotus), i.e., that the tongue acts as a suction 
pump.” 

10. Freshwater Sponge and Hydra in Ceylon.—Both a freshwater 
sponge and a Hydra have been known for some years to occur in the 
tanks and ponds of the Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, according 
to information received from Mr. E. E. Green. I have also taken 
avery few Hydre in the freshwaters of Colombo, including the 
Colombo lake, during the past four or five years, having searched 
for them for the purpose of demonstrating them to the students of 
the Medical College. Up to the present time there has been no 
definite published record of the occurrence of a sponge or of a 
Hydra in the freshwaters of Ceylon, and it is desirable that there 
should be one in the interests of geographical distribution. 
With regard to the sponge, I found a green-coloured species growing 
luxuriantly upon the stems of water plants near the outlet 
of the Maha Rambaikulam between Vavuniya and Mamadu, 
