LIFE-HISTORY OF CEOCE FILIPENNIS. 159 



of the labrum. A pair of pupal or provisional mandibles is present, and when the 

 imago is about to emerge the pupa cuts a small roundish hole in the cocoon by means 

 of these jaws. When the imago emerges it leaves the pupal envelope still partly within 

 the cocoon. One imago was observed soon after it had emerged — the fore wings are 

 fully expanded before the hind wings. The latter at that stage were still partly coiled 

 upon themselves, and only gradually became straightened out. The larvae were reared 

 in a darkened and fairly cool room, and it was found that the time the insect spends 

 within the cocoon varies from 18 to 22 days. A larva that formed its cocoon on 

 March 15th emerged as a perfect insect on April 6th. Another that spun up on 

 March 20th emerged on April 7 th. 



Assuming that the imago is on the wing for 10 days before depositing her eggs, the 

 total life-history of the species from the egg to the winged state thus occupies a period 

 of eleven and a half months or a little more. 



6. Summary. 



Croce filipennis is recorded in India from Bengal, Central India, and the United 

 Provinces. The imago is on the wing for about 14 days during the month of April. 

 It is principally crepuscular in habit, and frequents bungalows and other buildings. 

 Its complete life-history occupies a period of about 11| months. 



The eggs are oval and greenish in colour and measure '5 X "3 mm. ; they are laid singly 

 and are concealed with a coating of particles of sand and dust. Six captured females 

 laid from 13-40 eggs apiece, and a period of 10-12 days elapsed before they hatched. 



The young larva measures 15 mm. long, and is of the same general type common 

 among the Hemerobiidae and closely resembles that of the Ascelaphidae. The body is 

 divisible into a head, a " neck "-region of two segments, and a trunk-region of appa- 

 rently ten segments. The second segment of the "neck" is the prothorax, and the 

 first two segments of the trunk-region represent the meso- and metathorax respectively. 



During larval life it is exclusively carnivorous, and was reared upon Psocids and 

 young larvae of Dermestes. It feeds by means of suction, the maxillae fitting into a 

 groove beneath the mandibles, the two parts together forming a pair of imperfect 

 suctorial tubes. The larva lives among accumulated dust and sand on the floors of 

 buildings. The full-grown larva averages 7 mm. in length, and differs from the young 

 larva in being pigmented, flatter in form, and in the proportionately larger size of the 

 trunk-region. 



The pupa is enclosed in a nearly spherical cocoon composed of particles of sand and 

 dust woven together by threads of silk. The insect spends about three weeks within the 

 cocoon, and the pupa is provided with a pair of provisional mandibles for cutting through 

 its wall to allow of the emergence of the perfect insect. 



Allahabad, July 1910. 



Addendum. — Since these observations were concluded a note has appeared in the 

 Journal Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. xx. 1910, p. 530, by O. C. Ghosh, on Croce filipennis. 



SECOND SERIES. — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XI. 24 



