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  THE 
  LIFE-HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  AUSTRALIAN 
  MOTH-LACEWING, 
  IT 
  HONE 
  

   FUSC 
  A, 
  NEWMAN 
  (ORDER 
  NEUROPTERA 
  PLANIPENNIA). 
  

  

  By 
  R. 
  J. 
  Tillyard, 
  M.A., 
  Sc.D. 
  (Cantab.), 
  D.Sc. 
  (Sydney), 
  C.M.Z.S., 
  F.L.S., 
  F.E.S., 
  

  

  Entomologist 
  and 
  Chief 
  of 
  the 
  Biological 
  Department, 
  Cawthron 
  Institute, 
  

  

  Nelson, 
  N.Z. 
  

  

  (Plates 
  IV 
  & 
  V.) 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  previous 
  publication 
  (1919), 
  I 
  brought 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Ithonidae 
  up 
  

   to 
  date, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  perfect 
  insects 
  were 
  concerned, 
  and 
  gave 
  a 
  short 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   work 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  done 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Luke 
  Gallard 
  and 
  myself 
  in 
  discovering 
  the 
  

   habitats 
  and 
  dates 
  of 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  commonest 
  species, 
  Ithone 
  fusca, 
  Newman. 
  

   This 
  paper 
  also 
  recorded 
  our 
  success, 
  in 
  November 
  1918, 
  in 
  obtaining 
  numbers 
  of 
  

   fertile 
  eggs, 
  larvae 
  and 
  pupae. 
  I 
  promised 
  then 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  full 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  life- 
  

   history 
  in 
  a 
  later 
  paper, 
  and 
  that 
  promise 
  is 
  now 
  being 
  fulfilled. 
  

  

  The 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  life-history, 
  begun 
  in 
  1918, 
  was 
  continued 
  in 
  1919 
  when 
  I 
  paid 
  

   a 
  visit 
  to 
  Jervis 
  Bay 
  from 
  8th 
  to 
  22nd 
  September, 
  spending 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  digging 
  

   the 
  sandy 
  soil 
  around 
  the 
  Naval 
  College 
  in 
  a 
  search 
  for 
  larvae 
  and 
  pupae. 
  The 
  result 
  

   of 
  eight 
  days' 
  digging, 
  in 
  which 
  several 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Naval 
  College 
  staff 
  most 
  

   cheerfully 
  joined, 
  was 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  21 
  larvae 
  in 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  growth, 
  and 
  15 
  cocoons 
  

   containing 
  larvae 
  or 
  newly-formed 
  pupae. 
  The 
  same 
  year 
  Mr. 
  Gallard 
  continued 
  

   his 
  investigations 
  at 
  Woy 
  Woy 
  and 
  Epping, 
  finding 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  larvae 
  in 
  all 
  stages 
  

   of 
  growth. 
  

  

  Nothing 
  was 
  done 
  in 
  1920, 
  as 
  I 
  was 
  absent 
  from 
  Australia 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  October 
  of 
  

   last 
  year 
  I 
  again 
  visited 
  Sydney, 
  and 
  a 
  fortnight 
  was 
  spent 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  ground 
  

   where 
  the 
  larvae 
  were 
  originally 
  discovered 
  in 
  1918. 
  On 
  this 
  occasion 
  there 
  were' 
  

   with 
  me, 
  besides 
  Mr. 
  Gallard, 
  M. 
  Andre 
  Tonnoir, 
  the 
  well-known 
  Dipterist 
  of 
  Brussels, 
  

   and 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Nicholson, 
  the 
  newly-appointed 
  Lecturer 
  in 
  Entomology 
  at 
  Sj'dney 
  

   University. 
  During 
  the 
  fortnight 
  30th 
  October 
  to 
  12th 
  November, 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  

   of 
  adult 
  Ithone 
  were 
  taken 
  and 
  paired 
  in 
  special 
  cages, 
  about 
  7,000 
  fertile 
  eggs 
  

   being 
  obtained 
  from 
  them. 
  Of 
  these, 
  about 
  5,000 
  were 
  sent 
  across 
  to 
  New 
  Zealand, 
  

   1 
  ,000 
  to 
  America, 
  and 
  nearly 
  a 
  thousand 
  were 
  fixed 
  at 
  various 
  stages 
  of 
  development 
  

   for 
  future 
  embryological 
  studies. 
  Digging 
  was 
  also 
  carried 
  out 
  for 
  the 
  larvae, 
  and 
  a 
  

   considerable 
  number 
  obtained, 
  although 
  it 
  was 
  too 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  for 
  most 
  of 
  them. 
  

   The 
  most 
  successful 
  day 
  was 
  8th 
  November, 
  when, 
  as 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  hours' 
  digging 
  

   round 
  a 
  single 
  Eucalyptus 
  tree 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Nicholson 
  and 
  myself, 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  57 
  larvae 
  

   in 
  different 
  stages 
  of 
  growth 
  were 
  obtained, 
  together 
  with 
  a 
  representative 
  collection 
  

   of 
  the 
  various 
  Coleopterous 
  larvae 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  soil, 
  on 
  which 
  the 
  Ithone 
  larvae 
  

   prey. 
  A 
  special 
  study 
  was 
  also 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  imago, 
  and 
  their 
  rapid 
  

   destruction 
  by 
  hosts 
  of 
  enemies. 
  

  

  Before 
  beginning 
  the 
  actual 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  life-history 
  of 
  this 
  remarkable 
  insect, 
  

   it 
  will 
  be 
  of 
  interest 
  to 
  show 
  how 
  it 
  came 
  about 
  that 
  the 
  larva 
  was 
  at 
  last 
  discovered 
  

   after 
  some 
  years 
  of 
  fruitless 
  endeavour. 
  In 
  September 
  1915, 
  I 
  discovered 
  the 
  species 
  

   Heterithone 
  fulva, 
  Till., 
  on 
  Stradbroke 
  Island, 
  and 
  noticed 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  them 
  drowned 
  

   in 
  two 
  large 
  water-tanks. 
  Coupling 
  this 
  with 
  the 
  close 
  similarity 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  to 
  

   the 
  Megaloptera, 
  it 
  appeared 
  likely 
  that 
  the 
  larva 
  would 
  be 
  either 
  aquatic 
  or 
  sub- 
  

   aquatic. 
  As 
  a 
  result, 
  both 
  Mr. 
  Gallard 
  and 
  myself 
  searched 
  chiefly, 
  during 
  the 
  following 
  

   two 
  years, 
  in 
  lagoons 
  and 
  moist 
  places, 
  without 
  any 
  success. 
  In 
  October 
  1917, 
  Mr. 
  

   Gallard 
  was 
  staying 
  with 
  his 
  family 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Hansford's 
  cottage 
  at 
  Ocean 
  Beach, 
  near 
  

   Woy 
  Woy, 
  when 
  Mrs. 
  Gallard 
  discovered 
  one 
  evening 
  a 
  fine 
  Ithone 
  fusca 
  sitting 
  on 
  

   a 
  fence-post. 
  The 
  soil 
  was 
  sandy, 
  with 
  no 
  fresh-water 
  creek 
  or 
  lagoon 
  within 
  a 
  mile 
  

   or 
  more. 
  In 
  a 
  few 
  days, 
  Mr. 
  Gallard 
  had 
  found 
  about 
  two 
  dozen 
  of 
  the 
  insects, 
  

   mostly 
  hiding 
  in 
  an 
  outhouse 
  near 
  the 
  cottage. 
  We 
  therefore 
  concluded 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  

   likely 
  that 
  the 
  larvae 
  lived 
  in 
  the 
  sandy 
  soil 
  ; 
  and 
  we 
  proceeded, 
  during 
  November 
  

  

  