HARLWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



very distinctly marked, and complete. Perhaps the 

 typical form of the body is oval or elliptical, and the 

 first I shall figure is what I take to be Arrenurus 

 ellipticits, q (M uller). This rather large and very 

 pretty mite has a good deal of brown in the 

 central part and blue at the sides ; it doubtless varies 

 a good deal in colour, with the contents of its cceca ; 

 on the under-side the thigh plates are yellow. The 

 peculiar door-shaped sexual plates are well seen, these 

 are very nearly alike in all the females of the hard- 

 skinned specimens of Arrenurus, and have no circular 

 marks or sucking discs upon them. On each side of 

 these sexual plates is to be seen a chitinous plate 

 which, together with the thigh plates, is much more 

 'finely punctured than the other chitinous parts of the 



brown, the eyes are of a beautiful red colour ; I do 

 not know whether it has ever been named. Fig. 39 

 is of the same colour, but the body is very much 

 shortened, and the cceca are of a beautiful dull 

 vermilion ; the under-side (fig. 40) may be compared 

 with fig. 36, when the great difference in shape 

 position and size of the chitinous plates outside the 

 genital aperture will be evident. I have met with 

 another azure blue Arrenurus which was almost 

 globular (fig. 41), and here these plates will be seen 

 different in shape from any of the other sketches. 



Fig. 42, which I believe to be the female of Arren- 

 urus tricuspidator, is of a dark brick-red colour, with 

 black ciecal markings and coarse granular appearance, 

 and in shape differing much from the other figures. 



Fig. 40. — Arrenurus, sp. 

 (from belowV 



Fig. 41. — Arrenurus, sp. 

 (under surface). 



Fig. 42. — Arrenurus tricusJ>uiator, $, 5 object. 



body. The shape of these plates varies considerably, 

 and will probably be of much use in the discrimination 

 of species when this family shall have been more 

 thoroughly worked out. The next mite (fig. 36 and 

 fig- 37) is still more elliptical or ovoid, and perhaps a 

 little larger than the one just described. It is drawn 

 under a two inch objective, and therefore looks less 

 than the other. From the large amount and deepness 

 of the blue colour, I think it may be the female of 

 A. buccinator, although it has not the yellow legs 

 described by Koch. 



The next example (fig. 38) is a mite of a most 

 beautiful sky-blue colour, its outlines are seen to be 

 rather angular, it has an opaque whitish Y-shaped 

 mark in the centre, and the other cceca are light 



In addition to these, I have met with several females 

 (whose names I could not make out) differing some- 

 what in shape, size, and colour from those described, 

 but, as I have not mounted or kept accurate 

 descriptions of them, they will have to be taken again 

 before beins: recorded. 



Wasps. — Upon several occasions I have seen a 

 wasp catch a butterfly, nip off its wings, and then 

 fly away with its body. Also upon several occasions 

 I have seen one hunting in places where spiders are 

 to be found ; but I cannot say that I ever saw one 

 of these individuals caught by a wasp. — Thomas 

 A'ingsford, Canterbury. 



