4r>6 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



accessible at the time of writing, it is impossible to do more than sug- 

 gest a possible homology between the organs. 



Is Panorpa Predaceous ? 

 If one cares to watch these insects, they usually may be seen sitting 

 upon the upper side of a leaf. From time to time the wings are 

 slowly elevated and the abdomen caused to vibrate rapidly a few times. 

 This is most probably a respiratory movement. Occasionally one or 

 two may be found feeding upon a dead fly or a dead larva. They 

 6eem to bite the tissues for the sole purpose of liberating the body 

 fluids, so that feeding is a combination of biting and sucking. They 

 appear to pay no attention to living, intact insects, although they do 

 not hesitate to suck the fluids from a wounded caterpillar. Some 

 small Ilalisidota and Datanal&rvse were placed in cages with Panorpa, 

 but in no instance were they injured. One of these larva3 crawled 

 against the leg of a female; she simply moved out of the way and 

 finally flew off. But when an injured larva was placed in the cage, it 

 was quickly pounced upon and the fluids sucked from the wound. 

 They do not hesitate to feed upon the dead of their own species, and 

 they will also feed greedily upon raw flesh. A number of individuals 

 were kept in cages and fed upon meat, which was renewed every morn- 

 ing. Within ten minutes after the change, most of them would be 

 feeding eagerly. There was no tearing and pulling; the tip of the 

 long beak would be thrust into the most juicy parts with evident 

 delight. Cooked meat was given them once, but it was not relished so 

 well, probably from being too dry. The next morning several appeared 

 sick. One female lived upon nothing but meat for eighteen da} T s. She 

 was kept in a tumbler with a little sand in the bottom and muslin 

 stretched over the top. The sand frequently got pretty dry — she 

 might have lived longer had the conditions been more natural. From 

 the foregoing it would seem that Panorpa does not prey on living 

 animals, although Kirby and Spence record the following:* " Terrible 

 as is the dragon-fly in the insect world in general, putting to flight and 

 devouring whole hosts of butterflies, May-flies, and others of its tribes, 

 it instills no terror into the stout heart of the scorpion-fly {Panorpa 

 communis), though much its inferior in size and strength. Lyonnet 

 saw one attack a dragon-fly of ten times its own bigness, bring it to the 

 ground, pierce it repeatedly with its proboscis; and had he not by his 

 eagerness parted them, he doubts not it would have destroyed this 



* Entomology, vol., ii, p. 253. 1838. 



