730 CHAELES PAUL ALEXANDER 



Referring to Limnobiinae, Perkins says (page clxxxii of the same 

 reference) : 



The species of Dicranomyia are endemic, and to the five described, others and perhaps 

 many more will, no doubt, be added. They are common insects, sometimes attracted by 

 light and sometimes observed at rest in the daytime, or on the wing in the dark cavity of 

 some hollow tree. In the latter case a number are usually seen flying together, rising and 

 falling in their flight in the narrow space of a few feet. We have bred one or more species 

 from decayed wood, overgrown with damp moss. These fragile flies are the favourite prey of 

 the endemic predaceous wasps of the family Mimesidae, and some of the Crabronidae like- 

 wise gather them. Consequently one may find the females of these wasps investigating 

 damp, dark places, where the Dicranomyia are likely to be found, but which ordinarily 

 would have but little attraction for such sun-loving insects. 



Writing of the Crabronidae, Perkins says (page Ixxxvi of the reference 

 cited) : 



Xenocrabro hawaiiensis on one occasion was caught carrying off Lispe [Anthomyiidae] 

 and on another occasion a species of the limnobiid Dicranomyia. 



De Meijere (1920:59) records Crabro (Rhopalum) tibiale as provisioning 

 its nest principally with Molophilus armatus Meij. 



Parasitic natural enemies 

 External parasites 



Besides the predatory forms just considered, the various stages of the 

 existence of many crane-flies are threatened with parasites which are 

 equally effective altho more insidious in their method of attack. There 

 are unquestionably many parasites of crane-flies concerning which nothing 

 at all is known at this time. It is inconceivable that such species as 

 Holorusia grandis, Tipula abdominalis, and other large and common forms 

 do not serve as hosts for parasites as yet unknown. It is this field of 

 investigation that now promises some of the most valuable results. 



Hexapoda, The only parasitic insects of which the writer knows 

 are the dipterous Tachinidae. Glover (1874) states that in Europe certain 

 Tipulae are destroyed by a proctotrupid parasite of the genus Diapria 

 Latreille. Kieffer, in his monograph of the Diapriidae (1911), does not 

 mention this and the writer has not seen it referred to elsewhere. It is 

 probable that the reference pertains to some of the smaller Tipula-like 

 forms of another family. However, it is very strange that one or more 

 of the many families of parasitic Hymenoptera do not infest some stage 

 of the Tipulidae, and it may be confidently predicted that such parasites 

 will one day be discovered. 



