THe CrRANE-F ies oF New York — Part II oll 
Tachinidae: Most of the species of the interesting genus Siphona 
(Bucentes) are parasitic on the caterpillars of various Lepidoptera. Two 
have been recorded as parasites of the larvae of species of Tipula. The 
better-known of these is S¢phona cristata (Fabr.), a constant parasite of 
the larvae of Tzpula maxima (Beling 1886, Czizek 1913, Riedel 1913, 
Thompson 1915). The method of attack by the parasite has been 
described by Roubaud (1906). The large, massive larvae of this species 
of crane-fly are amphibious or semi-aquatic, living near the margins of 
streams and other bodies of water. They live in the mud or in the water | 
beneath the surface, at times coming up to breathe the air thru the two 
large spiracles at the posterior end of the body. It is at this time, when 
the spiracular disk is projected thru the surface film and the spiracles are 
open, that the tachinid is supposed to dart down and deposit its eggs in 
the open stigmata. The young parasite is somewhat elongated, yellow- 
ish orange in color, and about a millimeter in length, and is completely 
inclosed in a firm, membranous cyst. It is connected with one of the 
two principal tracheal trunks of the host by a sort of chitinized calyx 
which opens into the trachea. At the time of their pupation the para- 
sites detach their organs of fixation, and with their heads perforate the 
skin of the host and enter the humic earth. In nature this departure 
coincides almost exactly with the time of leaving the water by the host 
for the purpose of pupation in the earth. The pupal duration of the para- 
site is about three weeks. Rennie (1912) gives Siphona geniculata (De 
Geer) as a parasite of an undetermined species of Tipula. 
Species of the genus Admontia are important parasites of the larvae of 
crane-flies. In Europe, Admontia amica (Meig.) is parasitic on species of 
Tipula, while in America A. pergandei Coq. is an important parasite of 
the smoky crane-fly, Tipula cunctans (Hyslop, 1910:128). In the collec- 
tion of the Illinois Natural History Survey are several specimens of 
A. pergandet bred from larvae of the smoky crane-fly (larvae taken at 
Urbana, Illinois, parasites emerged October 9 to 25, 1900). Averin (1913) 
and Lutchnik (1916), in Russia, record the larvae of a Tipula, im one case 
at least — that of the economic species 7’. oleracea —as being very heavily 
infested by an undetermined tachinid which may have been the Admontia 
species mentioned above. 
A third genus of Tachinidae, Sturmia, has recently been reported to 
the writer by J. D. Tothill as being parasitic on the larva of a large crane- 
