GRASSHOPPERS IN GENERAL. 



33 



Concerning the life-history of the diptera described in this article, 

 the following notes have been made. Careful and continued watch- 

 ing for the act and time of oviposition was not fully rewarded. Dur- 

 ing the period of the last molt of Melanoplus differ entialis, when 

 frequently a dozen individuals could be seen at one time in various 

 stages of this change, the writer noted numbers of Sarcophagida3 flit- 

 ting nervously over and about, alighting near the soft, viscid locust, 

 then taking wing again. While no act of oviposition or darting 

 downward was observed, as is the case with many parasitic Hymenop- 

 tera when placing their eggs, it is the writer's opinion that some at 

 least of the eggs are placed upon the locust at this time. This belief 

 is strengthened by the fact that the insect during the molt is quies- 

 cent, is soft, and lightly coated with a sebaceous fluid, and therefore is 

 an easier prey and a greater attraction for parasitic flies in quest of a 

 host than the active and fully chitinized insect. 



FIG. 6. (Original.) Different stages in transformation 

 of Sarcophagidee. 1, 3, 4, white maggot in active stage ; , 

 maggot beginning to pupate dirty white in color ; 5, pupa 

 case, light brown ; 6, 7, fully developed pupa cases of two 

 species. 



The lot of specimens from which Sarcophaga cimbicis was bred 

 was collected on September 30, 1897; the larva came forth from the 

 host four days later. It emerged October 23, 1897. The material 

 from which Sarcophaga hunteri was bred was taken on September 1, 

 1898. Three of these dipterous larvae pupated on the 3d, one on the 

 6th, and the last of the five on the 9th of September. They emerged 

 in the following order : Two on September 6, one on September 8, 

 the remaining two, a male and female, now in Doctor Hough's collec- 

 tion, hold the labels giving date of emergence, a copy of which I did 

 not retain. There elapsed, however, in each case but a few days be- 

 tween pupation and maturation. 



Sarcophaga cimbicis Town.; Can. Ent., vol. 24, pp. 126, 127, 1892. 



This specimen, a female, was determined by Doctor Hough 

 from material in his collection. He wrote that the description 

 by Townsend was not then accessible. Upon looking up the list 

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