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1908 ] 181 



OBSERVATIONS ON EMPIS LIVID A, L. 



BY A. H. HAMM. 



Reprinted from " The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," Second Series, Vol. lix. 



It was uith feelings of mingled surprise and delight that I read 

 Mr. Milburn Hewlett's most interesting account of the pairing of 

 Empis borealis, which appeared in this Magazine for last October 

 (vol. xliii, p. 229). The author here showed for the first time that 

 the prey upon which the female feeds during the period of copulation 

 is provided for her by the male. I there and then made a mental re- 

 solve to attempt to confirm the observation, and to witness for myself 

 this extraordinary phenomenon : and my desire has been gratified 

 beyond my expectations. 



The following brief account of various observations extending 

 from June 25th to July 7th inclusive will, I hope, speak for itself. 



During an afternoon ramble on June 25th, while in search of 

 Diptera and other insects, I came upon a spot by the roadside, about 

 two miles from Islip, on the London Eoad between Islip and Wheat- 

 ley, with a fairly broad grassy margin bounded by a high hedge, on 

 which the herbage was very rank, the ground being of a slightly 

 marshy nature. At this spot many individuals of Empis livida were 

 seen resting on the leaves of various plants and grass stems. These 



