548 



Mr. C. L. Witliycombe's Notes on 



It is very common to see larvae, when at rest, with the 

 abdomen stretched out and raised in the air almost to a 

 right angle with the thorax. What may be the signifi- 

 cance of such an attitude is difficult to imagine. 



When full fed, a loose, oval cocoon of white silk, 5 mm. x 

 2 or 3 mm. is spun, and within this the larva lies, with head 

 and end of abdomen bent ventrally. Thus the winter is 

 about to be passed. Presumably pupation and emergence 

 will not take place until spring, as is the case with most 

 species of Chrysopa and some Hemerobiids. 



The three examples given in table are typical of twelve 

 larvae observed. 



Family IV. CHRYSOPIDAE. 



There are two British genera, Chrysopa and NotJioclirysa. 

 Of Chrysopa we have thirteen species, and of these I shall 

 give details of ten. Of the three remaining, I have not 

 yet seen larvae. There are two species of Nothochrysa, an 

 account will be given of N. capitata. 



Insects of medium size, green colour and golden ot 

 bronze-coloured eyes. Wings hyaline, densely reticulate. 

 Nothochrysa is brown. 



The eggs are raised on stalks (Plate XLII, figs. G-8) . About 

 one hundred may be laid by a single female. Some authors 

 say several hundred. They are of oval shape, generally 

 greenish, with a smooth chorion and a flat, disc-lilce micro- 

 pylar apparatus. The hatching larva has a characteristic 

 egg-breaker. 



Larvae (Plates XLI and XLII) are rather broader than 

 those of Hemerobiidae and generally more hirsute. The head 

 is broad. Eyes of six ocelli, blackish. Antennae fairly long, 

 slender and three- jointed, the second and third joints 

 hardly distinguishable, form together the slender tapering 

 portion. The basal joint is short. It is quite possible 

 that the antennae are really four- jointed, as the basal 



