On the Larva, Piqm, cDc. 0/ Orplinepliila testacea. 631 



near Wliakapapa Cottage, 3700 ft., 9. i. 1922 {Miss S. 

 Hudson). 



Although tliis differs in general appearance from most 

 species of Macromastix^ and rather strongly suggests a species 

 oi' Uoloinisia, the fleshy ovipositor and the absence of a spur 

 in cell 1/show that it has no close connection witli //. no- 

 varcE and allied species. On tiie other hand, it shows con- 

 siderable affinity with the species of the viridis group of 

 ALicromast'uc, and seems to have a near ally in M. ancjusli- 

 costa, Alex., which has no nasus^ femora with black tips, etc. 



LXXIII. — On the Larva, Pupa^ and Systematic Position of 

 Orphnepliila testacea^ Macq. {Diptera Nematocera). By 

 L. G. Saunders, M.Sc. (McGill), 1851 Research Student*. 



[Plates VII. & VIII.J 



Contents. p^^^.^ 



History 631 



Habits of Larva and Pupa 632 



Description of Larva 632 



Description of Pupa 637 



Systematic Position 638 



Summary 639 



Acknowledgements 639 



References 639 



Explanation of the Plates 640 



History. 

 The adults of Orphnephila have long been known in Europe,, 

 from Lappland and Norway to Italy; one species, O. testacea, 

 occurs sparingly in the United States, and very recently a 

 number of species have been discovered in New Zealand and 

 Tasmania. Prior to the discovery of the early stages, a 

 special family, Orphnephilidse, was erected to accommodate 

 this embarrassing genus, which would not conform to the 

 specifications of any family among the Nematocera; Mac- 

 quart, Meigen, and Kieffer agreed in placing it between the 

 Mycetophilids and the Cecidomyids. 



In 1909 Thienemann found the larvse and pupae of O. 

 testacea living in small streams and brooks^ where the water 

 runs very thinly over smooth rocks. When appealed to, 

 KiefFer at once pronounced that this was a Chironomid, and 

 the group was made the first subfamily of the Chironomidse, 

 with the Ceratopogonina3 second. This information w^as 

 published by Thienemann (1909) with a brief description 



* From the Molteuo Institute for Research in Parasitology, University 

 of Cambridge. 



