708 CHARLES PAUL ALEXANDER 



from the body at this time. The teneral adult then waits quietly until it 

 gains more strength and color. This condition of the insect is the most 

 dangerous period of its existence, since it is defenseless against all enemies. 



The insects are associated in the gravel with ground beetles of the 

 genera Omophron, Schizogenius, Dyschirius, Bembidion, Tachistodes; 

 with click beetles of the genus Cryptohypnus; and with rove beetles, of 

 which Paederus, Lathrobium, and Gastrolobium are the commonest forms. 

 In addition, numbers of larvae of Tabanidae, Leptidae (Atherix), Eriocera 

 spinosa, E. fultonensis, E. cinerea, and Erioptera armata were found. 

 Natural enemies of the pupae and the teneral imagines are the medium- 

 sized black lycosid spiders, which preyed in numbers on the weak, 

 uncolored adults. Dozens of these spiders were noticed with individuals 

 of the crane-flies in their grasp. When alarmed they would run rapidly 

 away, but only in exceptional cases would they release their victims. A 

 few spiders of other families, notably the Attidae, were found with Erio- 

 cerae. Dragon-flies appear to be the most serious enemies of the active 

 adults. Helocordulia uhleri (Selys) has been observed capturing the crane- 

 flies by darting back and forth thru the swarms of individuals. 



Cylindrotoma splendens Doane 



The life history of the species Cylindrotoma splendens has been 

 worked out in considerable detail by Dr. A. E. Cameron, from material 

 obtained near Westholme, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, in late 

 April, 1917. The following account is abstracted from Cameron's detailed 

 paper (1918) on this interesting crane-fly: 



The adults first appear on the wing about the middle of May. Without food they do 

 not live longer than five or six days, but in breeding cages, where they were supplied with 

 food in the nature of a sugar solution, they lived as long as from seven to nine days. In 

 nature the adults were found on the wing during a period of about three weeks. 



Soon after emergence the adults begin to copulate, and one male may have intercourse 

 with more than one female. Copulation often takes place in a vertical position, the female 

 above, the male below, with the tips of the abdomens interlocked. At times the female 

 was noted hanging to the roof of the breeding cages, with the male suspended head down- 

 ward, his body at an angle of 90 to that of the female, and his legs unsupported. If dis- 

 turbed, the female may walk off, dragging her mate after her, or she may take flight, bearing 

 the male with her. In nature the act of copulation is generally undertaken in the deep 

 shade of the large leaves of the insect's food plants, the sexes resting on the under surface 

 of the leaves or on the stems. Copulation may last but a few minutes or may require 

 several hours. 



The eggs are of a dull glistening white, elongate-oval in shape. Under natural conditions 

 they are almost invariably found on the under surface of the leaves of the food plant 

 Trautvetteria grandis Nuttall (Ranunculaceae) , inserted beneath the incised epidermis. They 



