42 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Vol. XI 



throughout Europe, in northern and east Africa, Cape Colony, 

 Canary Islands, Seychelle Islands and in Hindostan. 



The species is a scavenger and apparently by preference a 

 manure breeder. A number of European observers have re- 

 ported the larvae as occurring in large numbers in horse-manure. 

 Rondani states that they occur gregariously in the dejecta of 

 cattle. Specimens recently received by the writer were taken, 

 along with the following species, under conditions which indicate 

 manure-breeding. Josef Mik reports the occurrence of the larvae 

 of this species in large numbers in fermenting clover, which had 

 been subjected to a rude process of ensilage to destroy the weevils 

 (Apion) infesting it (Wien. Ent. Zeit., Vol. 15, 1896, p. 245). 

 C. N. Ainslie found the larvae in decaying suckers of corn (maize) 

 on the Pima Indian reservation in Arizona. The corn suckers 

 had been previously infested by the caterpillars of Chloridea ob- 

 soleta and the galleries filled with excrement produced by these 

 provided an excellent pabulum for the Chrysomyza larvae (Proc. 

 Ent. Soc. Wash., Vol. 13, 191 1, pp. 118-119). In 1913, A. Weiss 

 reported that in North Africa the larvae of this species are de- 

 structive to the date palm, where the trees had been wounded to 

 extract "palm wine." 



" The process of collecting palm wine in North Africa is well 

 known, but it was not known that Chrysomyza demandata lays its 

 eggs in gashes made in this palm. The larvae which hatch from 

 these eggs hollow out the interior of the trunk, feed upon the 

 pith and finally cause the death of the palm. We have seen a 

 number of date palms in a dying condition from this cause." 

 Mr. Weiss found the larvae present in the palm trunks in thou- 

 sands, the wet condition of the pith suiting them very well (Bull. 

 Soc. Hist. nat. Afrique du Nord, Vol. 4, pp. 68-69). From the 

 various observations just cited, it is apparent that the larvae can 

 thrive in a variety of decaying and fermenting substances. 



Chrysomyza aenea Fabr. — This species has made its appearance 

 in the United States. It is a native of the Oriental region, where 

 it is very widely distributed. It occurs also in eastern Africa and 

 neighboring islands, and in Austraha. Detailed records give 

 Hindostan (Fabricius, Walker), Formosa, Java, Borneo, Malay 

 Peninsula, Mauritius (Hendel), the Philippines (Bezzi), and 



