THE CRANE-FLIES OF NEW YORK PART II 831 



(1884) in submerged stems of the water dock, Rumex aquaticus Linn. 

 The eggs are described as being rather long, white, and granulate. It is 

 suggested that the developmental stages may be associated with water. 

 The two local species have been reared and are discussed herewith. 



Rhamphidia mainensis Alex. 



1916 Rhamphidia mainensis Alex. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 498-499, fig. 14. 



Rhamphidia mainensis appears to be a rather uncommon f6rm, much 

 rarer than R. flavipes, the other local species. Adult flies were not 

 uncommon in the Basin Swamp, Orono, Maine, on June 12, 1913. This 

 swamp is a low, sunken area surrounded on most sides by hills, opening 

 into the " Basin/' an affluent of the Penobscot River. Cold springs of 

 water percolate down from these hillsides, and the soil is very wet, boggy, 

 and richly filled with organic matter. The chief floral constituents are 

 a few elms and white birches and an abundance of alders, Spiraea latifolia 

 Borkh., and S. tomentosa Linn. The herbage consists of ferns such as 

 Onoclea and Osmunda, patches of Iris, Impatiens biflora Walt., and many 

 rushes and sedges. Crane-flies associated with R. mainensis on the 

 date mentioned included the following: Dicranomyia haeretica, 

 Epiphragma fascipennis, Pseudolimnophila luteipennis, P. inornata, 

 Limnophila fasciolata, L. macrocera, Pilaria recondita, Ulomorpha pilosetta, 

 Tricyphona inconstans, Erioptera vespertina, and Tipula sulphurea, also 

 an abundance of Ptychoptera rufocincta and Bittacomorpha clavipes. 



Larvae were first found on April 20, 1917, in the dark, cold swamp 

 known as Larch Meadows, south of Ithaca, New York. Here they 

 occurred in the thick, black, saturated organic matter comprising the 

 soil of the swamp. The vegetation consists of the dominant alder (Alnus 

 incana [Linn.] Moench.), the poison sumac (Rhus Vernix Linn.), and 

 the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris Linn.), as well as an abundance 

 of other plant species in lesser numbers. The earthy material in which 

 the crane-fly larvae were found was full of the organic remains of plants, 

 such as ferns, leaves, alder catkins, and the like. Associated with these 

 larvae at this time were numerous small hydrophilid beetles, and a great 

 abundance of larvae of a dascillid beetle of the subfamily Helodinae, 

 of various sizes and ages. Numerous tabanid and stratiomyiid larvae, 

 and the larvae of the crane-fly species Bittacomorpha clavipes, Pseudolimno- 

 phila luteipennis, and Tipula dejecta, also occurred. 



