MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 531 



a forward and backward motion. The mode of flying is rather clumsy on 

 account of the unweildy nature of the much elongated linear hind wings. 

 It may be found in the company of mosquitoes, but can be at once dis- 

 tinguished from the peculiar manner of fluttering. The adult winged insect 

 appears only in April, lays eggs and dies within a few days. Only one 

 cycle is passed through in the course of the whole year, the egg and pupa 

 stages occupying about a week and three weeks respectively and the larval 

 stage the rest of the year. 



Egg.— The insect laid eggs freely when captured alive and confined with 

 a little quantity of dry dust or sand. Three laid 5, 6 and 8 eggs, respective- 

 ly. The egg is almost round or slightly oval, the diameter being about 

 ^ m.m. in one direction and a little less in the other. The surface of the 

 egg is smooth, and the colour very pale yellow with a slightly bluish tinge. 

 In confinement eggs were deposited either in clusters of 2 to 5 or in a 

 scattered manner, a single egg being laid at one place. In the cluster they 

 stuck to one another loosely. The eggs hatch in about 8 days. 

 Eggs laid on Hatched on 



4th April . . 12th April 



19th „ . . 27th „ 



23rd „ . . 1st May 



Larva. — The young larva hatches out by bursting the egg shell which 

 is white when empty. It measures a little more than 1 m.m. from the tip 

 of the jaws to the hind end. The general appearance and shape are charac- 

 teristic and remain the same throughout the larval state, viz., a flattened 

 and somewhat disc-shaped body with an elongated, narrow neck bearing 

 the big round head, wmich is armed with formidable jaws. The 3 pairs of 

 legs are slender and long. The colour of the body of the young larva is 

 pale yellow and changes to grey with growth. After the first moult minute 

 knobbed processes are apparent on the body, which help the larva to 

 simulate the colour of the earth by holding particles of dust among them. 

 The head and the jaws in the young larva are yellow and become brown 

 later on. A grown up larva measures about 7 m.m. from the tip of the jaws 

 to the hind end and about 3 m.m. across the thickest part of the abdomen. 

 The neck is about 1^ m.m. long and the jaws about 1| m.m. The body 

 segments are not clearly cut, but are more or less distinct on account of 

 ateral indentations and shadings of colour. Fig. 1 pictures a larva 

 20 days old and fig. 2 are 7-§ mouths old. 



The larvae were observed to moult only once, just after a month after 

 hatching. The skin split from about the middle of the body over the neck 

 to the base of the head, whence the fissure extended laterally forward on 

 each side to liberate the head and the jaws. 



The larvse, especially when young, are active creatures and run about 

 rather quickly in search of food. They were fed with silver-fish {Lepisma sp.) 

 35 



