152 DE. A. D. IMMS ON THE 



also believed that NecropMlus arenarius was a larval form belonging to this subfamily. 

 Sharp * also holds a similar view as regards its affinities. Last year Lefroy f obtained 

 some eggs from a captive female of Croce filipennis, which hatched out into small white 

 larvae, of the same form as that represented in Roux's figure, except without the greatly 

 elongated neck. I am not aware that aaything further has been contributed towards a 

 knowledge of the life-history of the Nemopteridae. 



Croce filipennis was originally described by Westwood J under the title of Nematoptera 

 filipennis as follows : — 



" Nem. luteo-fusca; alis anticis albo-hyalinis ; stigma te f usco ; posticis longissimis, 

 basi nigricantibus latioribus; apice albo filiformi. Long. corp. lin. 3|. Expans. alar, 

 antic, lin. 11J. Long. alar, postic. 1 unc. 3 bin. Habitat in India orientali. In Mus. 

 D. W. W. Saunders, F.L.S., &c." 



In 1847 Westwood § refers to it as Nemoptera filipennis and describes it as follows : — 



" Nemoptera subfulva antennis f uscis, alis anticis hyalinis stigmate fusco, alis posticis 

 longissimis filiformibus dimidio basali fusco apice albo. 



" Nemoptera dull fulvous coloured, antennae brown, fore wings hyaline iridescent, with 

 a pale brown stigma, hind wings very long, thread-like, the basal half brown, the 

 extremity white. — Expansion of the fore wings nearly 1 inch. Length of the hind wings 

 1\ inch. 



" Inhabits Central India. In the collections of Col. Hearsey and Mr. Hope." 



In 1885 M'Lachlan [| proposed the new generic name Croce for a group of the 

 Nemopteridae comprising species usually of small size. They are characterised by the 

 front being very strongly produced into a slender beak, by short antennae (which are 

 usually somewhat thickened towards the apex), by transparent anterior wings with very 

 open neuration and usually with a strongly defined pterostigmatic mark, and especially 

 by long setaceous posterior wings, strongly ciliated, in which even the rudiments of 

 neuration are scarcely to be traced. Croce filipennis is taken as the type of the genus. 



2. The Distribution and Habits of the Imago. 



Croce filipennis appears to be the commonest and most widely distributed species of 

 the Nemopteridae found in India. Through the courtesy of Dr. N. Annandale I have 

 been able to examine the specimens in the collection of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. 

 It contains three species of the subfamily, and these have been recently reported on by 

 Needham ^[ : — 



1. Croce filipennis occurs around Calcutta (N. Annandale) ; Katihar in the Purneah 

 District ( C. A. Paiva) ; Surat and Igatpuri, Bombay {Lefroy Collection) ; and Allahabad 

 {A. D. Imms). 



* Cambridge Natural History, vol. v. p. 462. ' Indian Insect Life,' Calcutta, 1909, p. 160. 



X " A Monograph of the Genus Nematoptera" Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1841, pp. 9-14. 

 § ' Cabinet of Oriental Entomology,' p. 70, pi. 34. fig. 6. 



|] " On the Discovery of a Species of the Neuropterous Family Nemopteridae, with general considerations regarding 

 the Family," Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1885, pp. 375-379. If Records Ind. Mus. vol. iii. 1909, p. 190. 



