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Psyche 
[Vol.92 
known. Little information on biology, habitat or life history of any 
member of Meronera is available. 
Meronera venustula (Erichson 1840) is distributed throughout the 
eastern half of the United States. Only Blatchley (1910) provides 
sketchy notes on its biology. He noted that specimens of M. venus- 
tula were collected by sifting vegetable debris, and stated that spec- 
imens overwinter as hibernating adults, though he gives no data to 
support this statement. 
Adults of Meronera venustula, collected in the early spring, were 
easily maintained in the laboratory. Though cultures were main- 
tained primarily to provide correct larval associations, observations 
of such colonies has provided considerable information about feed- 
ing habits, fecundity, longevity and developmental times of adults 
and immatures. It is recognized that such observations under artifi- 
cial conditions may not accurately reflect life history characteristics 
in natural situations. However, they are suggestive and provide a 
first approximation to understanding the natural history and ecol- 
ogy of these aleocharines. 
In this paper, I provide information about the feeding habits, 
egg-laying rate, immature developmental times and longevity of 
adults of Meronera venustula based on colonies maintained in the 
laboratory. Late instar larvae are described and illustrations of dis- 
tinctive features are provided. 
Materials and Methods 
Adults of Meronera venustula were collected by sifting dead 
grasses and sedges at the edge of a partially dried slough on April 
26, 1984 in Palos Hills, Cook Co., Illinois. Sifted material was 
transferred to a white enameled pan, and adults were aspirated and 
transferred to snap-top glass vials filled with crushed fresh leaves. 
Survival of adults during return to the laboratory is very good under 
these circumstances. Sifted material was returned to the laboratory 
in plastic bags, and berlesed to determine relative proportions of 
different aleocharine species and the presence and type of larvae in 
the sample. No aleocharine larvae were found, suggesting that 
aleocharines had not begun oviposition at this time of year. A 
similar sample from the same locality and microhabitat collected on 
May 3, 1984 also contained adult M. venustula but no larvae. 
