184 Mr. E. E. Austen on the 



trees, those of the latter alone are carnivorous and prey upon 

 beetle larv». The larva of Xyhpha(/us, as described by 

 Brauer (Pcnkschr. k. Akad. Wiks. Wion, Bd. xlvii. (1883) 

 pp. 2B-24, Taf. iv. fit>-s. 80-83 — Xi/Jophagufi cinctus, F.),isa 

 cylindrical flcj^hy gnib, witli a paiclinient-like integument, a 

 greatly elongated head [Kifferkapsel, Brauer), and with 

 scutes or bands of chitin on the first ring or on the first three 

 postcephalic rings ; the pupa is obtectate [Nymphe eine freie 

 Mumienpuppe, Brauer) *. 



The larva of Xylomyia^ on the other hand, is a very 

 different-looking creature, which closely resembles that of 

 certain well-known Stratiomyidfe, such as Chloromyia for- 

 mosa^ Scop., and Actina tibialis^ Mg.f The dried larva-skin 

 (puparium) of Xylovtyia macidata, presented by Mr. Gorham, 

 must, as in the case of ordinary Stratiomyid iarvas, be pre- 

 cisely similar to the living larva in shape and general appear- 

 ance, owing to the hardness of the shell-like integument, 

 which is covered with closely-set ovoid scales or ])lates, and 

 does not admit of contraction. It is dark reddish brown in 

 colour, slightly tapering towards the extremities and oval in 

 transverse section ; the lateral margins of the body-segments 

 are expanded into tumid ridges. The head is very similar in 

 general appearance to that of the larvae of Sargus, Chloromyia ^ 

 or Actina. Our larva-skin is 15*5 millira. (7"0 lines) in 

 length and about 4*5 milHm. (or just over 2 lines) in greatest 

 breadth ; it consists of eleven segments behind the head, and 

 from the fifth to the eighth (postcephalic) segments the sides 

 of the body are nearly parallel ; the last segment, which is 

 somewhat truncate, bears on its hind margin a pair of tumid 

 lips enclosing a transverse horizontal cleft, in which open the 

 posterior stigmata ; the anterior stigmata are found in the 

 usual position, one on each side of the first postcephalic (the 

 prothoracic) segment. Apparently, therefore, the larva is 



* The larva and pupa of Xylophagns cinctus, F., were described more 

 than twenty years ago by the late Dr. F. Buchanan White (" Metamor- 

 phoses of Xylophaqus cinctus, F., and X. ater, F.," by F. Buchanan White, 

 Sl.D., F.L.S., Knt,' Mouth. Mag. vol. xiii. (1876) pp\ 160-162), who found 

 the laiTae of both our British species of Xylopha(jus in Braemar — those of 

 X. cinctus under the bark of dead tir-trees, and those of X. ater between 

 the bark and wood of dead birch-stumps. The metamorphoses of 

 Xylophagus cinctus have also been dealt with by Ferris (Ann. Soc. Ent, 

 Fr. S(5r. 4, t. x. (1870) pp. 202-205, pi. iii. figs. 70-79) in his paper on the 

 "Insectes du Pin Maritime." 



t Cf. a description of the larva of Chlorisops {Actina) tibialis, Mg., by 

 Adam Ilandlirsdi (Verb. z.-b. Ges. Wien, Bd. xxxiii. (1883) pp. 24-J-245, 

 woodcuts in text) ; tlie author found the larvfe of this species in the 

 middle of August near MiJdling, in Lower Austria, in forest-mould, mixed 

 with much decaying vegetable matter. 



