THE SMOKY CRANE-FLY. 



127 



ing cages and by dissecting the abdomens of females that had just 

 emerged, was approximately 300. This number had also been found 

 to be about the egg-laying capacity of Tipula bicornis, as from three 

 specimens Prof. F. M. Webster (1892) obtained 297, 282, and 289 

 eggs, respectively; and also of Tipula tephrocephala, from the abdo- 

 men of a female of which 255 eggs were obtained. A specimen of 

 Tipula angustipennis which the writer collected at Pullman, Wash., 

 however, contained 602 eggs, and Mr. E. O. G. Kelly found that a con- 

 fined specimen of an undetermined Tipula from Kansas laid 417 eggs. 

 The eggs laid in our rearing cages failed to hatch, but from the notes 

 made by Mr. E. O. G. Kelly on the egg stage of an undetermined 

 species in Kansas 

 they probably hatch 

 in from one to 

 three weeks. 



The larva? (fig. 

 63, «), which often 

 occur in enormous 

 numbers, as many 

 as 200 having been 

 found in an area 

 covering a little 

 over 1 square foot, 

 feed upon the roots 

 of various plants, 

 seeming to prefer 

 the Leguminosae, 

 and, contrary to 

 most published ac- 

 counts of the habits 

 of these larva\ they 

 not only suck the 

 juices of the roots 

 but devour the 

 plant tissue itself, 

 as is evidenced by the stomach contents of several larvae examined 

 in this office. Moreover, the well-developed biting mandibles would 

 indicate a tissue feeding habit. They feed during the early fall 

 and hibernate as half-grown larvae, resuming activities in the 

 spring. In feeding, these larvae move about in the ground quite 

 freely, as is evidenced by the small molehill-like ridges which they 

 leave, in going from plant to plant just under the surface of the 

 ground. They become full grown about the middle of July, form 

 perpendicular cells about 3 or 4 inches underground, and remain 

 inactive until about the middle of September, when they pupate. 

 The pupal stage lasts from a week to ten days. The pupa (fig. 64) 



Fig. 65. — The smoky crane-fly : Adult, emerging from pupal 

 case. Enlarged. (Original.) 



