1972] 
Henry — Ululodes and Ascaloptynx 
19 
combe, 1925). Ululodes and Ascaloptynx also share with other 
owlflies and antiions the presence of a line of weakness girdling 
the cephalic pole of the egg; Brauer (1854) and Ragonot (1878) 
were familiar with this “egg cap” and with its function during 
eclosion in the genus Ascalaphus, but did not elaborate upon its 
formation or orientation. 
Placement of eggs in linear rows on sprigs of grass or foliage is 
apparently widespread in the Ascalaphidae and even Nymphidae 
(Gallard, 1935). Surrounding the twig with eggs, as is done by 
Ascaloptynx furciger , has been reported only by Tillyard (1926) 
for various unidentified Australian ascalaphine species. Tillyard 
also reports masses of 50 to 100 or more eggs laid on one twig by 
one female; observations of other authors tally more closely with 
my own — thirty to fifty eggs for most species studied, except up 
to 60 in Ascalorphne impavida and 75 in Ululodes macleayanus 
(Guilding, 1827; New, 1971). Just as Ascaloptynx is exceptional 
in its oviposition of eggs around twigs, so Ululodes is exceptional 
in placement of its eggs on end; all other ascalaphids studied glue 
the mid-sections of their eggs to twigs, like Ascaloptynx. Obviously, 
without further information about many more ascalaphid species, 
one cannot decide from what we know of egg form and oviposition 
habits which conditions represent specializations. In fact, repre- 
sentatives of neither the Ascalaphinae nor the Neuroptynginae (as 
represented by Ascaloptynx ) display any features of egg or ovi- 
position that uniquely characterize one subfamily to the exclusion 
of the other. 
B. The Repagula 
Repagula have been reliably reported only in New World asca- 
laphid species — in the ascalaphine genera Ululodes , Colobopterus , 
Ascalorphne, and Cordulecerus (all in the tribe Ululodini), and 
in the neuroptyngine genera By as, Episperches, and now Ascalo- 
ptynx (New, 1971). Dissections of gravid females of several species 
of Ascalaphus — a European-Asian ascalaphine genus presumably 
closely related to Ululodes — seemingly confirm the absence of 
repagula: only egg-producing ovarioles are present in the ovaries 
(Brauer, 1854; Dufour, i860). Unfortunately, dissections of other 
Old World Ascalaphidae have not been undertaken. 
Previous studies of the repagula of several species of Ululodes 
(Guilding, 1827; McClendon, 1901; New, 1971) reveal little 
interspecific variation in the form and arrangement of the repagula 
