160 
MEUROPTERA. 
The Trichoptera are characteristic of moist temperate areas rather 
than of the moist or dry tropical areas and the student will scarcely find 
any species without search. None the less, it is probable that in the 
mo is ter parts of India many remain to be found and this is true also 
of the hills. More species are recorded from Ceylon than from all India 
including the hills, and this is due partly to better collecting and to more 
attention having been paid to these insects there. 
Note ,—Since the above was in type, the Ascolaphid larvae figured 
have been successfully kept alive and have passed through several instars ; 
they are fed on small sluggish insects such as caterpillars, aphides and 
immature membracids ; they are inactive by day resting pressed tightly 
on stones or earth, usually covered with particles of soil held by their 
spines. 
The common hemopterid, which was obtained as usual in April, 
laid eggs in captivity, small oval bluish eggs, laid singly and concealed 
by adhering dust. They hatched to small white larvae of the form 
shown in figure 73, but without the long neck which apparently develops 
in later instars. They cover themselves with dust and, in the absence 
of other food, prey upon each other. There can be no doubt that the 
larvae occur in houses and other buildings and there is additional evi¬ 
dence that they are predaceous, probably upon Psocids ( atropos) and 
other small forms of insect life, their long necks probably assisting 
them to obtain their prey in cracks and chinks. 
