NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 41 



species of Chrysops from the same pool was rather extraordinary as 

 up to then I had not found even $ $ of relicta in the Forest at all. 

 For the sake of my determination I was greatly relieved to take 

 several females later from the same locality (Rhinefield). The 

 Tabanus bovinus males taken numbered six, and were the first I had 

 captured of the sex. The flight is extremely swift and difficult to 

 follow, but they seemed to come down from a great height, give one 

 " ^P " or a series of " dips " — in which latter case invariably in a 

 rapid circle— and then instantly fly up again out of sight. The 

 smaller species of Tabanus behaved in much the same manner, 

 allowing for their size and weaker flight, but Therioplectes solstitialis 

 (next to T. bromius the commonest present) was much more casual in its 

 mode of flight, and not infrequently "rested " for a short space on some 

 convenient leaf overhanging the stream. The " rest " was presumably 

 for the purpose of imbibing the water collected on the forelegs during 

 the " dip " above mentioned, for, so far as I could make out from my 

 necessarily brief observations, this was the method used for drinking, 

 although possibly a certain amount of moisture is gathered in the 

 beak-like proboscis as well." Moreover, in support of the above 

 theory, the rest was never a preliminary to a dip, although I have 

 found the same species (g) sitting on leaves of bushest in the drives 

 of enclosures miles from any surface water, in which case the insect 

 was probably merely carrying out a habit common to all Diptera — 

 i. e. a love of basking motionless in the sun. On several occasions 

 in the spring I found Therioplectes tropicus g $ sitting on damp mud 

 by the margins of partially dried-up puddles, but most specimens of 

 Tabanus upon being captured in this position have simply proved to 

 be females. Chrysops and Hamatopota males, however, are great 

 " mud-sitters," and the former have also a liking for flowers 

 (especially Senecio and Mentha arvensis), which causes them to be 

 much more commonly taken than the larger members of the group. 

 Aty lotus fulvus, Meig., was one of the species that failed to turn up 

 at my observation pool, preferring more open, heathy woods, or those 

 adjoining heaths, but I managed to secure a male last year (1920) on 

 Setley Plain, near Lymington. In this case the creature must have 

 been flying just over my head at the time, for upon hearing a distant 

 "buzzing " I whirled my net rapidly, and so luckily caught undoubtedly 

 the most handsome of all our £ Tabanicla. With a remembrance of the 

 above capture I tried the same locality in 1921, but this time without 

 result. The formerly heathy and boggy ground was dried brown and 

 cracked by the sun, and even the females were at a premium. Another 

 absentee was Tabanus autumnalis, Linn., a fine large species which 

 is none too common in the Forest— I write from the Dipterist's point 

 of view ! — but I could have taken the males of several common 

 species (notably T. bromius) in scores had I desired, to say nothing 

 of hundreds of females, and yet not once did I witness a pairing. 

 Judging from the habits of both the <$ and ? bovinus, this all- 

 important function must either take place in the air, or, as the only 



* Such as when a " series of dips " is given. See bovinus. 



t Generally in the early morning. In normal seasons the dew on the leaves 

 may provide them with sufficient moisture, as one seldom sees the males at water, 

 or mud, except in very hot and dry weather. 



EKTOM. FEBRUARY, 1922. E 



