130 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
crippled. If the fact that the pupa when found was much 
lighter than it afterwards became shews that it had but lately 
changed from the larval state, then the pupal condition would 
seem to last about three weeks. Possibly, however, premature 
exposure may have caused the darkening. 
Soon the snakefly was killed, as otherwise it is difficult to 
identify the species. It was then found to bea male of Raphidia 
maculicollis. Of the genus Raphidia there are four British species, 
R. notata (Fig. 3) being considerably larger than the other three 
—R. maculicollis |(Fig. 2), R. xanthostigma and R. cognata— 
which are of about the same size. They belong to the natural 
order Neuroptera, in its restricted as well as in its wider sense. 
In the Oxshott and Esher Common districts of Surrey this 
species appears to be fairly plentiful. I have met with it there as 
early as May 18th in 1901, whilst the latest date I have is June 
14th in 1906. In the Wisley district I met with one on May 23rd, 
1899. Mr. E. C. Goulton gave mea female taken near Lyndhurst 
in the New Forest in 1906, and Mr. D. Sharp gave me a Scotch 
specimen which he took at Nethy Bridge in July, 1908. Mr. 
M’Lachlan had received a specimen from Haslemere and another 
from Morayshire. So the species seems to be rather widely dis- 
tributed. On May 20th, 1908, Mr. G. T. Porritt and myself took, 
chiefly by beating, about twenty-eight individuals in some two 
hours at the Black Pond, Esher Common. Most, if not all, had 
lately emerged, and had glossy wings shewing their teneral con- 
dition. One was found on a tree-trunk near its empty pupa- 
skin, which I then met with for the first time. The wings of the 
recently disclosed imago were yellowish and clouded, like those 
of a freshly emerged dragonfly ; the joints of the body were pale 
brown, the rest of the insect being dark. One of the snakeflies 
taken that day and placed in a box with some Hemerobius 
humuli (judging by the results found afterwards) attacked two of 
the latter, killing them, and eating part of their body. 
In R. maculicollis the wing-veining near the pterostigma 
seems sufficiently constant for purposes of identification. Atten- 
tion should be paid to those cells containing a cross (Fig. 5). 
The single cell attached to the distal extremity of the ptero- 
stigma seems to be constant in this one of the four British 
species and peculiar to it. 
It should be noted that the pupa is able to work its jaws, 
though it has no cocoon to cut open. 
EXXPLANATION OF PLATE. 
1. Pupa of R. maculicollis in resting position on its side (x 10). 2. Imago 
(female) of R. maculicollis (nat.size). 8. Imago (female), for comparison, of 
fi. notata (nat. size). 4. Jaws of pupa of R maculicollis (x 16), for com- 
parison with those of ant-lions and Chrysopas, belonging to the same natural 
order. 5, Tip of right fore wing of R. maculicollis (magnified). 
