LIMATTJ8 CAC0PHEADE8 45 



into a row of teeth. Harpagones inconspicuous. Unci not prominent : a row of 

 long stout setae in the midline. 



Larva, Stage IV (plate 86, fig. 272).— Head rounded, flattened at sides, 

 hind angles broadly rounded, occipital foramen comparatiyely small; antennse 

 moderate, slender, with a single hair at outer third; head-hairs all single. 

 Lateral abdominal hairs in sixes on first two segments, in fours on third to fifth, 

 in threes on sixth ; subdorsal hairs long, double. Lateral comb of eighth seg- 

 ment of four well-separated spines, followed by a single hair. Air-tube fusiform, 

 the tip small, about four times as long as the basal width ; a row of three double 

 tufts on the dorsal aspect, five such on ventral aspect, with a single hair near the 

 base on each aspect; terminal hooks small. Anal segment longer than wide, 

 with a rather small dorsal plate ; dorsal tuft of seven long hairs on each side ; 

 lateral tuft of two long hairs from lower angle of plate ; subventral tuft of three 

 long hairs. Anal gills twice as long as the segment, broad, with rounded tips, 

 equal. 



The larvae inhabit water in hollow trees, cacao-husks, and the like, usually in 

 very foul water. According to Dr. Goeldi, the larvae also occur in the leaves of 

 bromeliaceous plants and " banana-sororoca," but none of our collectors have 

 found them in such situations. They are confined to similar locations to the 

 larvae of Johlotia digitatus, which they often accompany. The egg is unde- 

 scribed. The adults are diurnal, frequenting forests. Peryassii mentions the 

 egg taken from the ovary of a female ; its length 0.68 mm., width, 0.24 mm. He 

 says they are laid singly or in small groups. The adults bite, but are not 

 apparently very fierce. Peryassu states that they attack man and horse with 

 avidity, but Dr. Goeldi was unable to induce any of numerous specimens to take 

 blood. 



Tropical America from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Trinidad. 



Montserrat, Trinidad, larvae in old calabash fruit in the forest, June 29 (A. 

 Busck) ; Montserrat, Trinidad, larvae in a hollow tree near houses, June 29 (A. 

 Busck) ; Montserrat, Trinidad, larvae in old cacao-shells, July 2, 1905 (A. 

 Busck) ; Port of Spain, Trinidad, larvae taken in a split bamboo on the ground, 

 containing vegetable debris; very little water; vegetable feeders; the female 

 sucks blood in the field, but does not enter houses (F. W. Urich) ; Potaro, British 

 Guiana, May, 1909 (H. W. B. Moore) . Eeported also from Para, Brazil (Theo- 

 bald, Goeldi) ; Eio de Janeiro, Brazil (Simond) ; states of Sao Paulo, Eio de 

 Janeiro, Bahia, Goyaz, and Para, Brazil (Lutz). 



We have Limatus durhamii in our region from Trinidad ; the Limatus from 

 Central America are different species, while no species of Limatus occurs in the 

 West Indies to our knowledge. Peryassu includes the species under those with 

 larvae " essentially carnivorous or cannibalistic." These larvae are normally 

 scavengers and we think attack living insects only when pressed by hunger. 



LIMATUS CACOPHRADES Dyar & Knab. 



Wyeomyia durhami Dyar & Knab (in part), Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, xlv, 228, 1906. 

 Limatus durhamii CoauIUett (in part), IT. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Ent, Tech. Ser. 11, 



27, 1906. 

 Limatus durhami Busck (not Theobald), Smiths. Misc. Colls., quart, iss., lii, 74, 1908. 

 Limatus cacophrades Dyar & Knab, Smiths. Misc. Colls., quart, iss., lii, 266, 1909. 



Osioiii^Aii Desceiption of Limatus cacopheates: 



Female. — Occiput black with blue and green iridescence, a patch of golden yellow 

 scales at the vertex. Prothoracic lobes golden. Mesonotum dark metallic violet- 

 scaled with golden markings, a median wedge-shaped one anteriorly and a semi- 

 circular one before the root of the wing. Scutellum dark violet-scaled. Postscutellum 

 bronzy brown-scaled, with blue, coppery, or golden reflections. Pleura clothed with 

 golden scales above, silvery ones below. Abdomen with the dorsal vestiture black. 



