250 prop. m. bezzi. 



Etholosical Groups and Economic Importance of the Genus Lonchaea. 



We have now a sufficient knowledge of the first stages of the genus Lonchaea. It 

 is curious to note that, as in many other cases, the principal observations have been 

 made as a result of the study of the damage caused by them to fruit crops. Thus, 

 in addition to the old general work by Bouche\* or to the short notes by Perris (of 

 1839, 1849 and 1870), we can find complete descriptions only in the paper by Farsky,f 

 or in the more recent ones by CameronJ and Prof. Silvestri.§ 



It is now quite certain that the larvae of Lonchaea feed only on vegetable matter* 

 whether decaying or not. This fact, already inferable from the compilations by 

 Scholtz || and Brauer,^} is contradicted only by a few observations, which appear 

 to be probably erroneous. Thus Megnin (" Faune des cadavres " ; quoted also 

 by Howard, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., ii, 1900, p. 586) says that a species was found 

 on the dead body of a child ; but it is almost certain that in this case some confusion 

 has arisen with a fly of the genus Opliyra. And again Perris** has advanced the 

 supposition that the larvae of Lonchaea laticornis feed on the larvae of the xylophagous 

 Coleoptera of the genus Ips (Bostrychus) (with which they live under bark of trees), 

 and even on the larvae of their own kind ; but he has made no real observations of 

 these predaceous habits, such as he has made of their cannibalism. 



The primitive larval habit of the genus Lonchaea seems to have been that of feeding 

 on decaying vegetable matter or in excrement on the ground or under the bark of 

 trees. This habit is the more usual one, occurring in all the regions of the globe, 

 both in cold and hot countries ; and it is that prevalent among the Sapromyzidae, 

 a family with which Lonchaea is often united, and to which it is at any rate closely 

 allied. This habit is confirmed by numerous observations. Thus larvae and puparia 

 of L. chorea, Fabr. (vaginalis, Fall.), L. tarsata, Fall., L. laticornis, Meig. (albitarsis, 

 Zett.), L. palposa, Zett., L. lucidiventris, Beck, (deutschi, Schin.) have been found 

 in Europe under bark or in decaying wood of various trees (of the genera Pinus, 

 Abies, Quercus, Populus, Salix, Acer, Robinia, etc.) by Bouche (1834), Perris (1839 

 and 1870), Zetterstedt (1847), Schiner (1864), De Meijere (1898), Kleine (1907) ; and 

 those of L. ploita, Say (rufitarsis, Macq.) in North America by Smith (1899). 



It is very interesting to note that the species living under bark of trees have been 

 twice observed in connection with xylophagous Coleoptera of the family Scolytidae 

 (Ipidae). Thus Perris (see the above-quoted paper of 1870, p. 343) has observed 



* Naturgeschichte der Insekten. Berlin, 1834, p. 94, pi. vi, fig. 1. 



fVerh. Zool.-Bot. G-es. Wien, xxix, 1879. pp. 101-107, pi. iii, figs. 1-7. 



% Trans. Ent. Soc , London, 1913, pp. 314-322, pi. si. 



§ Boll.?Labor. Zool. Gen. e Agr., Portiei ; xii, 1917, pp. 123-146, 19 figs. 

 Zeitschr. f. Entom., Breslan, 1848-1850, pp. 1-34. In this little-known paper there 

 is one of the first attempts to divide the Diptera into ethologioal groups, in relation to the 

 habits of the larvae. The notices regarding Lonchaea are to be found on pp. 10, 15, 19 and 

 30 ; the genus is improperly comprised also in those living on animal substances, on account 

 of its excrement-feeding habit. 



*l Denksihr. K. Akad. Wiss., Wien, xlvii, 1883, pp. 100, 5 pi. 



** Ann. Soc. Ent. France. (4) x, 1870, pp. 342-344, pi. v, figs. 138-145. It is interesting 

 to note that on this occasion Perris has made the following remark : " Elles se devorent 

 entre Relies, ce qui, du reste, n'est pas nouveau pour moi ; j'ai frequemment observe 1 le 

 meme fait de la part de larves voraces de Muscides vivant dans les bouses et les 

 champignons." It seems that Perris has confused the larvae of carnivorous species of 

 Anthomyiidae with those of saprophagous ones. 



