THE 



BRITISH NATURALIST. 



NEW SERIES, 



SOME CURIOUS AQUATIC LARV/E. 



BY GEORGE SWAINSON, F.L.S. 



(Continued from page 140. ) 



We must next introduce to you the most remarkable aquatic larva 

 we have ever met with. It belongs to the Dixa genus, and I believe 

 there are four species of this dipterous fly found in the British Isles. 

 Our three specimens were captured in a running stream near Port 

 Erin, in the Isle of Man, in August, 1892, adhering to a water plant, and 

 we believe this was the first record of this singular larva being found in 

 this country, though immediately after it was found by Professor Miall 

 in a pond near Leeds. It may possibly have been taken by many a 

 pond-hunter who, like ourselves, at first would be completely puzzled 

 with it, there being no account given of it in any English publication. 

 Its habits, as well as its shape, are so peculiar, and further specimens so 

 difficult to obtain, that we are hardly yet at the end of the various 

 puzzles relating to it. This larva was first discovered by the old 

 French naturalist, M. De Reaumur, and described in and though 



he was mistaken in several points I cannot do better than let him 

 describe it in his own words. 



" It is not surprising," he says, " that this singular aquatic worm has 

 escaped the notice of naturalists. It is rare, rather small, and at first 

 sight has nothing very singular about it. However, after a little study 

 it appears to well merit some attention. The smallest insects and the 



* " Histoire de L'Academie Royal des Sciences," Paris, 1714, page 203. 



