844 CHARLES PAUL ALEXANDER 



.^ Cephalic crest erect, rectangular, the outer lateral angles produced into strong, 

 chitinized spines. Pronotal breathing horns large at base, the elongate tips nearly chitinized, 

 tapering into subacute points. Wing sheaths ending opposite base of third abdominal 

 segment. Leg sheaths terminating just before end of fifth abdominal segment. Abdominal 

 tergites with a transverse band of spicules at caudal margin; pleurites with a transverse 

 oval area of similar spines; terminal sternites with a similar transverse band of spicules, 

 most powerfully developed on segment 8; dorsal spiracles on segment 8 conspicuous. 



Epiphragma is a rather small genus (twenty-five species) of usually 

 large and handsome crane-flies, finding its center of distribution in the 

 tropical regions of the New World. The adult flies of the local species 

 are usually common. Epiphragma fascipennis, the best known of these 

 species, is often found swarming in shady places, the swarms usually 

 consisting of from twelve to fifteen individuals. 



The immature stages of all the species thus far known are spent in decay- 

 ing wood. In Europe, Beling ( 1 873 b: 589-590) records finding larvae and 

 pupae of E. picta (Fabr.) in decaying ash (Fraxinus) and beech (Fagus) 

 in the spring. He gives the pupal duration of this species as about two 

 weeks. Needham (1903:281-285) gives an excellent account of E. 

 fascipennis, which he found in partly decayed stems of willow and button- 

 bush. The same species has been found living in the stems of black 

 ash and elm. E. solatrix has been found in various deciduous trees in 

 a dead or decaying condition. Bruch (in litt.) records an Argentinian 

 Epiphragma from decaying wood. 



Epiphragma solatrix (0. S.) 



1859 Limnophila (Epiphragma) solatrix 0. S. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 238. 



Epiphragma solatrix is a beautiful crane-fly, a little more Austral in 

 its distribution than the more widely distributed E. fascipennis. H. S. 

 Barber found larvae and young pupae very numerous in a drift log of 

 sycamore (Platanus) at Plummers Island, Maryland, on May 19, 1913, 

 and it is the study of this material that is included in this paper. Shannon 

 found larvae in rotten wood at Rosslyn, Virginia, on November 23 and 

 25, 1912, and a pupa on January 3, 1913. Later he reared both E. 

 solatrix and E. fascipennis from larvae taken from the same log on the 

 same day. The species was 'again found in a decaying maple log on the 

 Potomac River opposite Plummers Island, Maryland, where it was associ- 



