L 151 ] 



X. Contributions to a Knowledge of the Structure and Biology of some Indian Insects . — 

 I. On the Life-history of Croce filipennis, Westw. ( Order Neuroptera, lam. Heme- 

 robiida?). By A. D. Imms, B.A., B.Sc, Professor of Biology, Muir College, and 

 Felloio of the University, Allahabad. {Communicated by the Rev. Canon W. W. 

 Fowler, M.A., B.Sc, F.L.S.) 



(Plate 32.) 



Read 15th June, 1911. 



Contents. Page 



1. Introductory Remarks 151 



2. The Distribution and Habits of the Imago 152 



3. The Eggs 153 



4. The Larva 154 



5. The Pupa 158 



6. Summary 159 



7. Explanation of Plate 160 



1. Introductory Remarks. 



-LITE Nemopteridoe form a small specialised group of insects usually classified as a sub- 

 family of the Neuropterous family Hemerobiidae. Only a small number of species have 

 been described up to the present, and their most striking characteristic is seen in the 

 enormously elongated and filiform hind wings, which project for a long distance beyond 

 the apex of the abdomen. Scarcely anything has been recorded concerning either the 

 habits or life-histories of these remarkable insects, and the present paper is offered as a 

 small contribution towards a knowledge of the bionomics of the common Indian species 

 Croce filipennis, "Westw. 



Many years ago Roux * figured a remarkable larva with an immensely long and 

 attenuated neck, and a rounded head bearing a pair of large prominent mandibles. It 

 occurred among accumulated sand in the tombs and pyramids of Egypt, and he regarded 

 it as a fully matured insect, and described it as such under the name of Necrophihts 

 arenarius. Westwood f, in 1840, pointed out that it appeared in reality to be the larva 

 of a Neuropterous insect, and suggested that it might possibly belong to the Nemopteridse. 

 According to Longinos Navas %, in his recent monograph of the Nemopteridae, Schaum § 



* Ann. Soi. Nat. t. xxviii. (1833) pi. 7. fig. 3. 



t ' Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,' vol. ii. p. 55. 



% Mem. Real Acad. Cien. y Artes de Barcelona, vol. viii. Num. 18, 1910, p. 344, fig. 2*. 



§ Berliner entomol. Zeitsch. Bd. i. (1857) pp. 1-9, t. 1. figs. 1-1 d. 



SECOND SERIES. — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XI. 



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