730 CHarRLesS Paut ALEXANDER 
Referrmg to Limnobiinae, Perkins says (page clxxxi of the same 
reference) : 
The species of Dicranomyia are endemic, and to the five described, others and perhaps 
many more will, no doubt, be added. They are common insects, sometimes attracted by 
light and sometimes observed at rest in the daytime, or on the wing in the dark cavity of 
some hollow tree. In the latter case a number are usually seen flying together, rising and 
falling in their flight in the narrow space of a few feet. We have bred one or more species 
from decayed wood, overgrown with damp moss. These fragile flies are the favourite prey of 
the endemic predaceous wasps of the family Mimesidae, and some of the Crabronidae like- 
wise gather them. Consequently one may find the females of these wasps investigating 
damp, dark places, where the Dicranomyia are likely to be found, but which ordinarily 
would have hut little attraction for such sun-loving insects. 
Writing of the Crabronidae, Perkins says (page lxxxvi of the reference 
cited): 
Xenocrabro hawaiiensis on one occasion was caught carrying off Lispe [Anthomyiidae] 
and on another occasion a species of the limnobiid Dicranomyia. 
De Meijere (1920:59) records Crabro (Rhopalum) tibiale as provisioning 
its nest principally with Molophilus armatus Meij. 
Parasitic natural enemies 
External parasites 
Besides the predatory forms just considered, the various stages of the 
existence of many crane-flies are threatened with parasites which are 
equally effective altho more insidious in their method of attack. There 
are unquestionably many parasites of crane-flies concerning which nothing | 
at all is known at this time. It is inconceivable that such species as 
Holorusia grandis, Tipula abdominalis, and other large and common forms 
do not serve as hosts for parasites as yet unknown. It is this field of 
investigation that now promises some of the most valuable results. 
Hexapoda.— The only parasitic insects of which the writer knows 
are the dipterous Tachinidae. Glover (1874) states that in Europe certain 
Tipulae are destroyed by a proctotrupid parasite of the genus Diapria 
Latreille. Kieffer, in his monograph of the Diapriidae (1911), does not 
mention, this and the writer has not seen it referred to elsewhere. It is 
probable that the reference pertains to some of the smaller Tipula-like 
forms of another family. However, it is very strange that one or more 
of the many families of parasitic Hymenoptera do not infest some stage 
of the Tipulidae, and it may be confidently predicted that such parasites 
will one day be discovered. 
