Mar., 1911.] The Stratiomyidae of Cedar Point. 
299 
THE STRATIOMYIDAE OF CEDAR POINT, SANDUSKY. 
(Order Diptera) 
Bentley B. Fulton. 
A shallow, weedy body of quiet water with a low muddy or 
sandy shore, is the ideal breeding place for most Stratiomyidae. 
These conditions are found at Cedar Point. The shore of San- 
dusky Bay along the point is low and sandy and in most places 
covered with a layer of mud and debris washed up by the waves. 
Along the shore there are many patches of swamp land. At the 
eastern end of the bay there is a swamp covering several square 
miles, through which run many winding flood channels; the 
largest of these is called Black Channel. The bottom of the bay 
has a thick deposit of mud and supports a luxuriant growth of 
submerged plants, while on the surface in many places are thick 
mats of algae and floating plants. All these conditions are 
favorable and most of the species found were very common. 
Since no collecting has been done at Cedar Point before the 
middle of June, it is probable that there are a number of early 
forms which have not been taken. 
The family Stratiomyidae is a rather large one, having about 
one thousand described species, of which about two hundred are 
found in North America. They are bare or thinly pilose flic^ 
with flattened abdomen and often having bright yellow or green 
markings which give them the name of Soldier Flies. The 
squamae are small or vestigial, tibiae without spurs and the 
antennae are three- jointed, the third joint being composed of 
several annulations and often bearing a terminal arista. The 
wings are clear or smoky and are held along the abdomen when at 
rest. Species of this family may be easily recognized by the 
venation of the wing; the longitudinal veins being more or less 
crowded along the costal margin, while the posterior veins are 
often weak or vestigial. The discal cell is usually small and oval 
or irregularly six-sided. 
C. A. Hart in his “Entomology of the Illinois River” has given 
many interesting observations on the habits of Stratiomyidae. 
He found the females of Odontomyia eincta and O. vertebrata 
ovipositing on reeds, stakes and dead branches in the water. The 
larvae of Stratiomyia and Odontomyia are elongate and flattened, 
rather large, and of an opaque greenish, brown, or gray color 
obscurely striped. The former prefer the low shores and are 
found crawling over the mud or living in the plant debris, while 
the latter live in the water. The pupa is formed in one end of the 
larval skin, which becomes inflated and floats on the water. The 
imago emerges through a median slit connecting transverse slits 
in the second and fourth segments. 
