Predaccous Insects and their Prey. 367 
' and female being without prey at the time. On the 
other hand three females with prey (Nos. 22, 25 and 40) 
were seen to be persistently courted by males. In one 
case (No. 40) both sexes were resting on a leaf, the female 
absorbing the juices of a small @ Ichneumonid, Pimpla 
(Itioplectis) pomorum, which was soon sucked dry. She 
then deliberately withdrew her proboscis from the victim 
and dropping it upon the leaf faced round upon her suitor 
in a menacing manner. The male, as if realizing the 
danger, at once became far more cautious and wary in 
courtship. When we remember that once in this species 
(No. 41), and once each in the case of two other species of 
Asilidx, Promachus xqualis (No. 96), and Promachus, sp. A. 
(No. 103), the female has been captured devouring the male 
of her own kind, we can well understand the increased wari- 
ness observed on this occasion, as well as the persistent 
courtship of females already provided with prey and the 
well-known examples of females with prey captured im 
coitw.* Four instances of this latter kind are recorded in 
the present paper,—Laphria gibbosa, No. 86; Hutolmus 
apicatus, No. 175; Machimus atricapillus, No. 205, and 
Neottamus cyanurus, No. 208. That the male is 
extremely wary in the courtship of females without prey, 
the following observations upon D. diadema sufficiently 
prove. 
July 24th, 1902, 11.45 am. La Granja, Sierra Guadar- 
rama, Spain.—l watched a male Dasypogon diadema 
pursuing the female. Every time the female flew the 
male followed and almost invariably settled behind, about 
three or four inches away, with his head towards her. 
Sometimes the female on alighting turned round so as to 
face the direction from which she had flown, and the 
pursuing male; but the latter flew round her and took 
up the characteristic position behind. Not only on 
these occasions but usually the male flew once or twice 
round her before alighting, but until the final act this par- 
ticular male never touched the female. About a quarter 
of a minute after settling the male flew nearer to the 
female. Although only three or four inches away he did 
not walk but flew towards her, taking up a nearer position, 
in which he sometimes faced her from the side, sometimes 
* Also frequently observed in the Empide, as stated by Kirby and 
Spence. For their amusing conjectures as to the significance of the 
fact see footnote + on p. 388, 
