394 Professor E. B. Poulton on 
The predaceous habits of the Cordyluride were well , 
known to Messrs. Kirby and Spence :— 
“Even Scatophaga stercoraria and scybalaria, and pro- 
bably many others of the same tribe, feed upon small flies, 
though their proboscis does not seem so well adapted for 
animal as for vegetable food.” * 
The sexes of the captors are seen to be nearly evenly 
divided in the only record that is fairly complete; that 
of S. stercoraria. It is certainly remarkable that each of 
the 7 victims of this species should belong to a different 
family or sub-family of Diptera. The surprising example 
of a Tenthredinid victim (of merdaria) is of much interest, 
and prepares us for a wide variety of insect diet when 
naturalists have seriously turned their attention to the 
habits of the genus Scatophaga. 
Ochromyia jejuna, F., Nos. 304-808. 
The Muscine are not admitted among predaceous 
Diptera, the structure of the mouth-part being different 
from that in flies which attack and kill other insects. It 
is therefore of the utmost importance that any evidence 
which is held to prove the contrary opinion should be 
tested and sifted with far more than ordinary care. 
During the past summer (of 1906) I received through 
the kindness of Mr. E. Ernest Green, a female example 
(304) of the abundant fly Ochromyia jejuna, together with 
a winged termite identified by Mr. W. F. Kirby as Zermes 
taprobanes, Hg. The insects had been taken at Wellawaya, 
Ceylon, in November 1905, and Mr. Green described the 
termite as the prey of the Muscid. The observation is 
recorded in “ Spolia Zeylanica” (see the number following 
date of capture). Colonel Yerbury, who determined the 
fly, was decidedly of the opinion that the observation was 
erroneous. I therefore wrote again to Mr. Green, and 
received the following reply :—“ Peradenyia, Ceylon, July 
17, 1906. The circumstances were as follows. I was 
personally working my moth-trap, which consists of a 
powerful acetylene lamp throwing its light on to a white 
cotton screen. Immediately after lighting up, the screen 
was covered with a crawling mass of winged termites. 
While watching these, I noticed the flies actually pouncing 
* Fifth ed. 1828, vol. i, p. 275. 
