612 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL RIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXl. 



about four times the length of the abdomen, of very even diameter 

 except just at the distal ends, where they taper and end blindl}^. 

 They open separately but close together into the dorsal wall of the 

 vagina, just behind the spermatheca. The glands pass upwards 

 over the oviducts and forwards to the anterior segments of the 

 abdomen, coiled up and lying on each side of the intestines. When 

 the insect is about to oviposit the glands are of a pale yellow. The 

 ovaries (ov, Fig. 5) shown in the figure are small, the eggs in this 

 specimen not being matured. In their natural position the three 

 curved ends of the spermatheca (SP) are bunched up together- 

 The distal ends are purplish or reddish. There are four rectal 

 glands (E,G) like the finger-tips of a glove, which project into the 

 interior of the rectum (R), the tips pointing towards the anus. 

 Tracheal branches from the stigmata are attached to the bases of 

 the glands, and capillaries penetrate to the tips thereof. These 

 tracheae partly serve to retain the rectum in position. There are 

 four long urinary tubes (Uli). The colleterial matter taken from 

 the glands of a freshly-killed fly ready to oviposit, is pale yellow and 

 viscid. Spread on a slip it dissolves entirely in 10 per cent, 

 potash ; on the potash evaporating the matter is re-deposited as a 

 semi-opaque film, which easily disintegrates. The fresh material 

 spread on a slip soon dries as a pale yellow translucent film, hard 

 and brittle. After exposure to the air, it is much less easily soluble 

 in potash. Probably the whitish appearance of the completed 

 ootheca and its greater resistance to solvents is due to its aerated or 

 porous condition, since the action of the atmosphere certainl}-' 

 causes some chemical change in the colleterial matter. 



The eggs are smooth, whitish and shiny ; the number in the 

 ootheca was not counted, but it was certainly over fifty. They 

 hatch in six or seven days, and most of the larvse emerge simul- 

 taneously in a regular rush, though stragglers keep on emerging 

 for two or three hours. They immediately drop to the ground and 

 commence burrowing into it, or descend by the numerous crannies 

 and fissures. The newly-hatched larva (Fig. 4) is smooth, whitish 

 and shiny, with a few hairs on the anterior and posterior segments* 

 I was unable to rear the larvse, but they probably feed on sub- 

 terranean coleopterous lai-vaB. 



