PSYCHE. 



101 



on the side of a knoll, where the earth 

 had afterwards fallen away, partially 

 exposing the eggs, each exposed egg 

 had been pierced by a parasite, Scelis 

 ovivorus Riley, which emerged Sept. 

 iS, one from each egg and about a 

 dozen in all. 



A male and a female taken in coitu 

 at Niagara Falls, Aug. iS, were pre- 

 served and from the bod}' of the female 

 there issued early in September two 

 Tachinae which Mr. C. H. Tyler 

 Townsend has identified for me as Sar- 

 cophaga oedipodiuis Towns. Ms. 



An embryo 7 mm. long and nearly 

 formed was observed some years ago. 

 As viewed from above the prothora.x is 

 no larger than the other thoracic seg- 

 ments and these are entirely similar to 

 the abdominal, no regional distinction 

 being perceptible. The hind femora 

 are long and reach the end of the third 

 abdominal segment ; the tibiae are bent 

 at right angles toward and across each 

 other, the tarsi curving backward, out- 

 ward, and upward. The middle legs 

 are not alike. On one side, the femur 

 lies upon the base of the hind femur and 

 the tibia and tarsi bend sharply back 

 upon the femur and parallel to it ; on 

 the other, the femur lies entirely within 

 the hind femur (/. e., toward the middle 

 line of ventral surface of body) and the 

 tibia bends at first at slightly less than 

 a right angle to it, then is twisted, and 

 the tarsi are finally directed toward a 

 point between the insertion of the mid- 

 dle and hind legs of the opposite side, 

 and the extremity apparently between 

 its opposite neighbors. The fore 



femora run in the same direction as and 

 parallel to the hind femora and the 

 tibiae and tarsi are bent sharply back 

 upon the femora but run a little beneath 

 both them and the tibiae of the oppo- 

 site pair, so as to be only partially 

 visible. 



The labrum, strongly bilobed at apex 

 is bent downward and appressed against 

 the face, the two mandibles (the black 

 denticles at tip being formed) being 

 separated from each other by the labrum, 

 their insertions being nearly or quite as 

 far apart as those of the forelegs. The 

 maxillae seem to arise in the middle line 

 beside and partially concealed by the 

 mandibles, directed outward, and one 

 of them twice as long as the other ; the 

 two halves of the labrum arise in a 

 similar way, but lie beneath the mandi- 

 bles. The antennae come down in 

 front of the eyes, being pushed toward 

 them by the protuberant mandibles ; 

 one of them is broken, nothing but the 

 stump being visible ! Just behind the 

 base of the hind femora, in the place 

 of the body of doubtful character in 

 Rathke's figure of the embryo of Gryllo- 

 talpa, is a shining lenticidar elevation. 



In 1S65 the imago first appeared on 

 June 29. On Oct. 10, 1S67, the species 

 were by no means uncommon in Cam- 

 bridge, but I could find only females, 

 and the late Mr. Sanborn told me that 

 the same was true on the same day at 

 Andover, Mass. 



Mr. J. A. Allen tells me that in Iowa 

 the species occurs only by roadsides and 

 in rather dry places. A specimen flew 

 into the window of the late Professor 



