THE CRANE-FLIES OF NEW YORK PART II 807 



Elliptera omissa Egg. 



1863 Elliptera omissa Egg. Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien, vol. 13, p. 1108. 



Specimens of Elliptera omissa were found by Mik (1886b) along water- 

 courses and near falls in mountainous regions. The adult flies were 

 noted as late as September 10, swarming about the waterfalls. 



Larvae and pupae were found on July 30 and August 17 near Salzburg, 

 upper Austria, living in elongate and somewhat depressed cocoons about 

 10 millimeters long and 4 millimeters broad which were arranged in longi- 

 tudinal rows with short spaces between. These cocoons, which were 

 placed with the current, occurred on the wet walls of wooden chutes or 

 runways and also on dripping chalk cliffs. The immature stages spend 

 their existence in these small cocoons of mud and silk. When ready to 

 emerge as an adult, the pupa makes its way thru the end of the cocoon 

 away from the current, leaving the cast skin attached to the opening. The 

 margins of the large pronotal breathing horns of the pupa are finely ser- 

 rated and are presumably used in making this opening thru the cocoon. 

 The young larva probably creeps about on the floor of the runway, feeding 

 on algae growing in the same situation. When nearly full-grown, the 

 larva crawls to a less exposed place and spins its cocoon. Many larvae 

 and pupae are killed by the drying-out of their haunts when the water 

 supply becomes insufficient to cover them. 



Larva. Length, 7 mm. 



Diameter, 1.5 mm. 



Body clearly depressed (Plate XXIII, 72), greenish white, scarcely shiny, with delicate 

 appressed grayish hairs which are thicker at the two ends of the body, especially on last 

 segment, where they become almost villous. Integument very transparent, so that intes- 

 tine and contents show thru, the intestine narrowing on segment 6 and thru to segment 8, 

 where it broadens out and almost entirely fills the ninth and tenth segments. On sides of 

 prothorax a delicate, long, pale hair; on remaining segments two such hairs. On each of 

 abdominal segments 3 to 9, on dorsum near anterior margin, a low transverse ridge which 

 is thickly set with short, blackened points; on sternum of each of same segments, a similar 

 welt which is destitute of points. In male larvae, clawlike appendages of genitalia of adults 

 showing thru skin on ventral side. 



Head capsule (Plate XXIII, 73 and 74) massive, slightly longer than broad, black, some- 

 what shiny, all the sclerites compact and closely united; anterior projecting part of capsule with 

 margins transparent, rust-brown; median part with two small knobs, laterad of which are 

 two larger projections which are crowned with short points; capsule weakly keeled behind 

 on dorsum (Plate XXIII, 74), anterior to which are two swollen elevations; on hinder mar- 

 gin of clypeus a styliform, bristly lobe, easily broken off, which is presumably the antenna. 



