302 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. VII, 
about freely in the body cavity, while those that were attached 
could be easily removed or could themselves change their 
position. 
About one hundred Phryganidia were dissected and ten 
Siphona parasites were found, three of these being taken from 
a single caterpillar. It would be hard to estimate with much 
accuracy the probable percentage of parasites, but ten per 
cent, I believe, would not be too high an estimate. 
Some of the Phryganidia were kept alive in a cage, and from 
these there issued several fly larvee, which pupated in about two 
hours. In no instance did the parasites issue from Phryganidia 
pup, but all seem to leave the Phryganidia while the host is 
still in the larval stage. After freeing itself from the host the 
larva soon begins the period of pupation. It begins by drawing 
itself together and changing to a darker color, and within a 
couple of hours it is a brown segmented pupa about three- 
sixteenths of an inch in length. One pupa remained from the 
sixth of October to the twenty-fourth, a period of eighteen 
days, before the imago finally appeared. Other larve were 
alllowed to pupate, but from eight pupz only the one fly issued, 
while from the seven others, there issued hymenopterous 
hyperparasites, which have not yet been determined. These 
issued somewhat later, taking twenty-three to twenty-five 
days to come from the pupa cases. . 
This percentage of hyper-parasites is almost certainly more 
than the average, as they came from Phryganidia that were 
gathered from a single oak tree situated in a flower garden. It 
is to be hoped that further investigation will reveal a smaller 
percentage of hyper-parasites, as their abundance will greatly 
check the beneficial work of Szphona plusie, which has so greatly 
aided in controlling the Phryganidia in California, especially 
in the Santa Clara Valley. 
The Adult. The adult has been described by Coquillet,* 
but practically nothing of the life history has been heretofore 
given. The general characteristics of the adult are shown in 
text-fig. 2, a special character being that the proboscis has. 
two geniculations, one near the base and the other near the 
middle. 
* Canadian Entomologist, Vol. 27, p. 125. 


