Revision of the Tipulid genus Styringomyia. 207 



same writer found a male specimen, which he regarded as 

 representing a distinct species, in Baltic amber; this he 

 named but did not describe in his pamphlet on the amber 

 Diptera (" Bernstein und Bernsteinfauna," p. 38). Subse- 

 quently Osten-Sacken (1869) gave some notes on a specimen 

 in his possession in a lump of copal from Zanzibar. These 

 three specimens seem to be all that are known in a fossil 

 or sub fossil state, and unfortmiately they all appear to be 

 lost. Prof. Meunier informs me that he has made a 

 number of endeavours to trace Loew's types, but always 

 without success, and that in all the large collections of 

 amber insects with which he is acquainted he has never 

 met with a specimen. The genus is unrepresented in the 

 amber collections in the British Museum, and is evidently 

 very rare in a fossil state, a fact which suggests that its 

 apparently primitive characters may not be such in reality. 



Although Osten-Sacken (1873) mentions having met 

 with some recent specimens in the Stockholm museum, 

 the first living species was not described until in 1901 

 Grimshaw introduced his S. didyma. Since that time nine 

 additional specific names have been proposed, but two of 

 these names must be relegated to synonymy. In the pre- 

 sent paper fifteen new species are described, bringing the 

 total number of known forms up to twenty-three, all from 

 the tropics of the Old World. In all probability, however, 

 this number represents but a percentage of the species 

 which actually exist. 



Of the life-history and early stages of the members of 

 this genus nothing is known, and the only thing recorded 

 concerning their habits relates to the attitude of rest, 

 which is very remarkable, resembling that adopted by the 

 Phasmidae. Dr. N. Annandale, referring to some specimens 

 of S. ceylonica taken at Puri, Orissa, says : " This species 

 rests on walls with the two anterior pairs of legs stretched 

 out straight in front and the posterior pair behind, re- 

 sembling a stray piece of cobweb." The late Mr. F. W. 

 Terry made a similar remark to the writer regarding the 

 resting habits of S. didyma, and de Meijere (1911) has also 

 recorded a statement of Jacobson's to the same effect. 

 It is possible that the enlargement of the prothorax may 

 have some connection with the peculiar posture adopted 

 by the insect. 



The writer wishes to express his indebtedness to the 

 following gentlemen for assistance in the preparation of 



