PAPERS ON ZOOLOGY 311 



with the paragiossae very elongate and appearing as 

 slightly recurved lobes, the palpi being situated not far 

 from the base of the rostrum. All other crane-flies with 

 the rostrum conspicuously elongated have the palpi re- 

 duced in size and borne at the extreme apex. Because 

 of this elongate beak, the flies of this genus superficially 

 resemble very large mosquitoes from which they are 

 readily distinguished by the family characters, the long 

 and excessively slender legs, the almost invariable pres- 

 ence of an enclosed (discal) cell on the wings and the 

 complete lack of scales on the body and wings. 



The adult flies are often very abundant and may be 

 swept in numbers from vegetation in the haunts which 

 they frequent. The authors found one of the four species 

 occurring in northeastern North America, Geranomyia 

 canadensis (Westwood), very commonly at Alto Pass, 

 Union County, Illinois, on June 6, 1919. At this place 

 there is a low limestone embankment formed by a cut of 

 the Mobile and Ohio railroad, about one hundred yards 

 south of the station. The almost vertical surface of this 

 embankment is continually moist with water percolating 

 from the saturated soil above. On the face of this small 

 cliff the immature stages are spent as described here- 

 inafter and the adult flies occur in numbers in the im- 

 mediate vicinity. In the evening they appear in small 

 swarms of usually three or four indi\TLduals, dancing 

 about only an inch or two from the face of the cliff. The 

 swarming flight is nearly horizontal and in the form of 

 a figure 8, very rapid, but covering a distance of only 

 three or four inches. In repose, the species occur on the 

 face of the wall where they are usually to be found in 

 the act of ''bobbing" up and do^^^l. In copulation, the 

 pairs rest on plant stems near these haunts, the female 

 above, the male below and partly dorsad of his mate, the 

 posterior legs of both sexes hanging free. The feeding 

 habits of the flies are now comparatively well-known. 

 Knab and other students found that the present species 

 feeds on the nectar of tubular flowers, preferably Com- 

 positae {Eupatorium, Solidago, Aster, Silphium, Riid- 

 hechia, Cacalia, Verbesina and others), usually in the late 



