54 
Psyche 
[March 
his larvae on raw meat, but he did not determine the nat- 
ural feeding habits. The larvae are much more spiny 
than those of Panorpa and are considerably stouter. They 
are also more active than the Panorpas; when frightened 
or disturbed they roll themselves up in the manner of many 
lepidopterous larvae, or they throw the anterior part of the 
body in an erect position, much like the sphingid larvae. 
About ten days before pupation the larvae bury themselves 
in the soil and form a chamber. The pupae are similar to 
those of Panorpa in general appearance, although of course 
they are very slender and have the habitus of a Bittacus. 
The adult emerges in about two weeks. Brauer states that 
the adult of B. italicus forms a chamber of leaves or twigs 
and lives within, feeding on the insects which are unfor- 
tunate enough to enter. No such chamber has been ob- 
served in the case of the American species, and I am certain 
that none is used by B. strigosus. One species of the 
genus, chilensis, is decidedly cavernicolous. The Bittacidse 
are usually very local in their distrbution; in New England 
strigosus can frequently be taken in woodlots less than an 
acre in extent, but will not occur elsewhere for miles 
around. Martin (1892) 'has shown that B. tiyularius 
occurs very irregularly in France ; in some years, as 1888, 
it may be very abundant, literally covering the “wheat, 
clover, broom, heath and thicket/’ although in a few years’ 
time it may be almost entirely absent. He attributes 
this decrease in the number of specimens to the corres- 
ponding increase of a parasite, although none has ever 
been found in Bittacus or Panorpa. Certain species of 
Bittacus, at least our occidentis and strigosus, are posi- 
tively phototropic and are frequently caught in light traps. 
The life-history of Boreus was also worked out by Brauer 
(1862), but he did not succeed in carrying any one species 
through all its stages of development. Additional observa- 
tions have been made by Williams (1916) and Withycombe 
(1924, 1926), who has given a splendid account of the biol- 
ogy of the European B. hyemalis . The eggs are laid one 
or two at a time among moss roots. The larvse hatch in 
about ten days, usually during December; they possess 
