856 CHARLES PAUL ALEXANDER 



pupal skin was not in condition for study, but now that the larval habitat 

 is known it is hoped that more material of the immature stages will 

 become available. 



Subtribe Limnophilaria 



The division Limnophilaria comprises a large and heterogeneous group 

 of species which in their larval and pupal characters grade rather insensibly 

 into the next subtribe, the Hexatomaria, altho the adults of the two 

 subtribes are very distinct. 



The larvae of the various species in the group Limnophilae are rather 

 similar to one another. The head capsule is long and narrow, with the 

 lateral plates very slender. The labrum is ample, with several sensory 

 papillae and setae. The antennae (which are two-segmented in the 

 subgenera Phylidorea and Lasiomastix, and probably also in Dicrano- 

 phragma and others) bear at their tips, in addition to the usual elongate 

 setae, an oval or elongate-oval papilla which is delicately sculptured. 

 The mental region is feebly chitinized, and consists of two short longitudinal 

 bars articulated at their cephalic ends with a transverse bar which functions 

 as the mental plate; this bar, or plate, is usually delicately grooved with 

 parallel striae, a type of articulation that allows for great distention of 

 the gular region in feeding. The mandibles are powerful chitinized hooks 

 bearing two or more acute or flattened teeth at about midlength. The 

 outer lobes of the maxillae project far cephalad as pale flattened blades. 



The spiracular disk, in the primitive condition, is squarely truncated 

 and is surrounded b}^ five subequal lobes which are fringed with rather 

 short hairs. The dorso-median lobe is lost in most species, but the two 

 pairs of lobes are more or less preserved in the other species known to the 

 writer, altho the lateral pair is sometimes reduced to a mere fringe or 

 tuft of hairs. The terminal fringes of the ventral lobes are often greatly 

 elongated, and fanlike. The anal gills are four in number, retractile, 

 and rarely conspicuous. As is usual in many mud- or sand-inhabiting 

 species of Tipulidae, the larvae are capable of greatly distending the 

 subterminal abdominal segment. This segment is often provided with 

 numerous transverse rows of fine points, and its inflation assists in the 

 larva's progression thru the soil. 



The larvae of the group are carnivorous, and almost without exception 

 are exceedingly agile and snakelike in their motions. 



