NOTES ON "PUNKII>."* 



25 



beri Coq., Culex signifer Coq., and C. triseriatus Coq.), larva? of the 

 dascyllid beetle Prionocyphon discoideus Say, and a rat-tailed maggot 

 related to Eristalis. Eggs could not be found on account of the 

 dirty condition of the water. The larval food seems to be the debris 

 at the bottom of the holes, as well as dead mosquito and other larvae, 

 and cast larval and pupal skins. In one instance the larvae had 

 accomplished the complete disintegration of a rat-tailed maggot, and 

 the writer has seen them render the skin of the beetle larva just re- 

 ferred to transparent. On several occasions larva? were seen inside 

 the skin. They were taken also at Woodstock under similar con- 

 ditions, that is, in holes containing water in living trees. 



The larva (fig. 3, c), when full grown, is 4.7 mm. in length and very 

 slender. It has 12 segments exclusive of the head, the two segments 

 following the head together being about the length of each of the 

 other segments. It is white in color, threadlike, and has a brownish 

 head. Locomotion is undulatory. The larvae frequently come to 

 the surface and then descend, squirming along the bottom 

 of a jar and apparently never remaining quiet, as does the 

 larva of Culex at times. Some of the larvae were carried 

 through the winter in a room which was moderately cool, 

 but seldom near freezing. From these over-wintered 

 larvae adults issued April 27 to May 8, 1905. Later inves- 

 tigation may prove that the larvae freeze up just as do the 

 larvae of some mosquitoes, then thaw out in the spring 

 and complete their life cycle. 



THE PUPA. 



Pupa 

 of Cerntopo- 

 gon i (tricolor. 

 M u c h e n - 

 larged (after 

 Dyar). 



The pupa (fig. 3, e) is 3.01 mm. in length and 0.84 mm. 

 in breadth. It is of a brown color, a little more than 

 half as long as the mature larva, but much stouter, and 

 has eight abdominal segments, each succeeding segment 

 being narrowed to the last, which is bifurcated, the clamp- 

 ers being 0.35 mm. in length. It is provided with two 

 short breathing tubes. In this stage the insect does not mov> fre- 

 quently, remaining in a perpendicular position in the water just below 

 the surface. For comparison the figure of an allied species. 

 Ceratopogon varicolor Coq. (fig. 5), from Bellport, X. Y., is reproduced 

 from Plate I, Volume V, of the Proceedings of the Entomological 

 Society of Washington. 



The known distribution, gathered from specimens in the U. S. 

 National Museum collection, is as follows: Plummers Island, Md., 

 June 6 (H. S. Barber); Medina. Ohio, August 5 (J, s. Hine); Blue- 

 mont, Va., July 29 and 30, and Woodstock, Ya.. August 8 and 9 (F. C. 

 Pratt); Santa Rita Mountain-. Arizona, July 8 (E, A. Schwarz). 



A specimen of Ceratopogon guttipennis has recently (April 13, \\Kh\) 

 been reared from a larva collected from water in a hollow living tree 



