142 Psyche [October 



NOTES ON THE HABITS OF THE SNOW-FLY (CHIONEA). 



By Werner March and, 



Department of Animal Pathology, The Rockefeller Institute for 

 Medical Research, Princeton, New Jersey. 



The interesting wingless Tipulid genus Chionea has often at- 

 tracted the attention of entomologists because of its being one of 

 the few insects which are found regularly at winter- time, being 

 apparently quite at home on snow and at low temperatures. Also 

 this genus is not without interest for the student of Parasitology, 

 in so far as so many wingless species are found among the parasitic 

 insects, the habits of which may be elucidated by a fuller knowledge 

 of forms with similar characteristics. 



The genus Chionea was described first by Dalman (1816), with 

 the type-species C. araneoides, from Sweden. Later, the snow- 

 flies have been reported from places in Scandinavia, Germany and 

 Austria, Russia, Alsace, Switzerland and Italy; the early stages 

 have been described by Brauer (1854), and have been found 

 repeatedly since, being terrestrial in habit and occurring under 

 decaying leaves in wooded regions. At first, these captures were 

 all recorded under the heading of Chionea araneoides Dalm., but 

 it appears that the true C. araneoides, together with a dark and 

 thick-legged form, C. crassipes Boheman, occurs only in Scandina- 

 via, Lapland and Finland, while the Chionese of Germany, Austria 

 and part of Russia (with araneoides), belong to C. lutescens Lundstr., 

 and those of the Swiss and Italian Alps to C. alpina Bezzi. The 

 two last-mentioned species are nearly related to one another, more 

 yellow in color, and differ from the Scandinavian forms chiefly 

 by the antennae which are composed of a smaller number of joints, 

 and bear longer hairs than in the northern species. Also consid- 

 erable differences have been found in the arrangement and forma- 

 tion of the hairs on the legs. 



In America, the species C. valga Harris, discovered in 1835 and 

 described in 1841, has been found repeatedly since in New England 

 (Emerton), Minnesota (Lugger), and Canada (Gosse). Interesting 

 notes on its habits, especially on its copulation, we owe to Lugger 

 (1896), who observed the species in Minnesota. According to 

 Johnson (Psyche, 1907, p. 41-44), it is doubtful whether there is 



