Dcc.,i9J5 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 107 



present in all the members of the order is the more or less long 

 beak with the mouth parts attached to the end. 



Concerning the habits of our species it seems strange that, while 

 the greater number are well known in the adult stage and may be 

 encountered in fair abundance, there is no record of a complete 

 life-history, as far as I am aware, of any species. Felt has pub- 

 lished his observations on some very young stages of Panorpa 

 riifescens, but for a full account we still must refer to the writings 

 of Dr. Brauer of Vienna, who has recorded the life-histories of 

 some of the European species. According to this authority, deal- 

 ing with Panorpa coniinnnis of Europe, the male is polygamous. 

 Four days after pairing the female lays a few eggs in a mass, 

 situated in a shallow hole, which she bores with her long abdomen 

 in damp earth. In a few days afterwards both male and female 

 die. The eggs, at first white and later brown, are rather large 

 for so small an insect. The larvse hatch in eight days from the 

 time the eggs are deposited. They grow very rapidly, attaining 

 full size in about thirty days. The body is thick, fleshy, cylin- 

 drical, much like a caterpillar and beset with brown horny warts, 

 bearing short bristles. On the last three segments are cylindrical 

 tubercles, bearing long bristles. A point of much interest is that 

 besides the three pairs of jointed, horny feet, the larva also has 

 eight pairs of fleshy pro-legs, which correspond to the abdominal 

 pro-legs of caterpillars, though the latter are not known to pos- 

 sess more than five pairs of such legs. The head is rounded, and 

 not very large. In confinement the larva burrows in damp earth, 

 an inch deep, and lives on putrid meat and bread. Pupation 

 takes place in a cavity in the earth, the final transformation oc- 

 curring about two weeks later. 



In a wild state the larvse appear to subsist chiefly on decaying 

 animal matter. They have been observed feeding on dead or 

 dying caterpillars, on dead flies and wasps and have been found 

 living in ants' nests, where, unmolested by the ants, they seem to 

 function as commensals or, more likely, scavengers. My own 

 experience has been almost entirely with the adults. I do recol- 

 lect finding larvse at different times when turning stones and 

 logs, or when sifting among fallen leaves but have never at- 

 tempted raising them. Shady woods with a rich herbaceous 



