﻿554 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  an 
  interesting 
  history, 
  and 
  has 
  occupied 
  a 
  unique 
  place 
  in 
  our 
  entomo- 
  

   logic 
  literature. 
  Unlike 
  the 
  larva 
  of 
  the 
  beetle, 
  P 
  s 
  e 
  p 
  h 
  e 
  n 
  u 
  s, 
  or 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  syrphus 
  fly, 
  Micro 
  don, 
  or 
  the 
  larval 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  caddis 
  fly 
  

   H 
  e 
  1 
  i 
  c 
  o 
  p 
  s 
  y 
  c 
  h 
  e 
  , 
  or 
  the 
  nymph 
  of 
  the 
  May 
  fly, 
  P 
  r 
  o 
  s 
  o 
  p 
  i 
  s 
  t 
  o 
  m 
  a, 
  

   all 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  for 
  a 
  time 
  mistaken 
  for 
  mollusks, 
  the 
  S 
  i 
  s 
  y 
  r 
  a 
  larva, 
  

   was 
  clearly 
  an 
  insect, 
  bat 
  not 
  referable 
  by 
  its 
  discoverers 
  to 
  any 
  

   definite 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  insect 
  series. 
  James 
  Hogg 
  first 
  found 
  it 
  while 
  

   studying 
  fresh-water 
  sponges, 
  and 
  J. 
  O. 
  Westwood 
  brought 
  it 
  to 
  the 
  

   notice 
  of 
  the 
  public. 
  A 
  discussion 
  was 
  then 
  raging 
  in 
  the 
  learned 
  

   societies 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  world 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  sponges 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  plant 
  or 
  

   to 
  the 
  animal 
  kingdom, 
  and 
  the 
  Sisy 
  r 
  a 
  larva 
  was 
  dragged, 
  an 
  innocent 
  

   victim, 
  into 
  this 
  controversy. 
  Dujardin, 
  maintaining 
  that 
  sponges 
  are 
  

   animals, 
  told 
  the 
  French 
  academy 
  that 
  he 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  sponge 
  body 
  

   numerous 
  fine 
  filaments 
  that 
  moved 
  to 
  and 
  fro. 
  James 
  Hogg, 
  on 
  the 
  

   other 
  hand, 
  believing 
  that 
  sponges 
  are 
  plants, 
  maintained 
  before 
  the 
  

   Linnaean 
  society 
  of 
  London 
  that 
  the 
  filaments 
  seen 
  by 
  Dujardin 
  were 
  the 
  

   setae 
  on 
  the 
  back 
  of 
  these 
  larvae, 
  which 
  had 
  crawled, 
  as 
  is 
  their 
  wont, 
  

   into 
  the 
  sponge 
  through 
  the 
  open 
  osteoles. 
  

  

  The 
  larva 
  possessed 
  two 
  structures, 
  also, 
  so 
  unique 
  in 
  character 
  that 
  

   interest 
  in 
  them 
  has 
  survived 
  the 
  sponge 
  controversy, 
  and 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  

   which 
  the 
  original 
  figures 
  of 
  Westwood 
  and 
  Grube 
  are 
  handed 
  down 
  in 
  

   textbooks 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  day. 
  These 
  peculiar 
  parts 
  are 
  i) 
  paired, 
  

   jointed 
  appendages 
  beneath 
  the 
  abdominal 
  segments, 
  and 
  2) 
  long, 
  de- 
  

   curved, 
  piercing 
  mouth 
  parts, 
  of 
  a 
  unique 
  suctorial 
  type. 
  

  

  Notwithstanding 
  the 
  interest 
  attaching 
  to 
  this 
  larva, 
  it 
  seems 
  not 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  reared. 
  That 
  it 
  belonged 
  to 
  S 
  i 
  s 
  y 
  r 
  a 
  was, 
  I 
  take 
  it, 
  a 
  logical 
  

   deduction. 
  The 
  brief 
  quotations 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  inserted 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  

   bibliography 
  will 
  serve 
  to 
  show 
  how 
  the 
  conviction 
  grew. 
  The 
  small 
  

   size 
  of 
  the 
  larva, 
  and 
  its 
  certain 
  Hemerobian 
  afiinities 
  (the 
  larva 
  of 
  other 
  

   genera 
  being 
  known) 
  left 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  Sisyra. 
  I 
  was 
  unwill- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  reared 
  till 
  after 
  consulting 
  all 
  the 
  

   hterature 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  could 
  find 
  any 
  mention 
  of 
  it, 
  and 
  examining 
  at 
  Cam- 
  

   bridge 
  Dr 
  Hagen's 
  manuscript 
  drawings 
  illustrating 
  hemerobian 
  life 
  his- 
  

   tories 
  and 
  finding 
  among 
  them 
  a 
  larva 
  well 
  drawn, 
  but 
  no 
  pupa 
  or 
  

   cocoon. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  several 
  European 
  species 
  of 
  Sisyra: 
  there 
  is 
  one 
  North 
  

   American 
  species, 
  S. 
  vie 
  aria 
  Walker, 
  described 
  from 
  Georgia, 
  and 
  

   afterward 
  reported 
  from 
  New 
  York.^ 
  The 
  species 
  I 
  found 
  at 
  Saranac 
  

   Inn 
  is 
  very 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  typical 
  Sisyra 
  fuscata 
  Fabr. 
  It 
  differs 
  

  

  1 
  Banks. 
  Am. 
  eut. 
  soc. 
  Trans. 
  Possibly 
  not 
  v 
  I 
  c 
  a 
  r 
  i 
  a. 
  

  

  