284 Qiieriea and Anaxioeys. 



The circumstance mentioned by your correspondent, of its attaching 

 itself to the leg of a fly, is in accordance with the habits of Chelifer cimi- 

 coides, which I have seen dragging the dead carcass of the Stomoxys ciil- 

 citrans (which resembles the il/usca domestica) by the legs. This species 

 inhabits the bark of old trees, and feeds like it on small insects. I remain. 

 Sir, &ic. — F. a L. Guernsey, Jan. 11. 1831. 



A Lobster-like Insect, S^c. — A species of the genus Chelifer, which not 

 unfrequently employs gnats and other flies as a means of transport, but 

 whether accidentally or intentionally, is for the decision of entomologists. 

 These insects are to be met with in decayed trees, where I have often 

 seen them whilst searching for minute fungi. — J. S. Hensloiu. Cambridge^ 

 Feb A, 1831. 



Caterpillar infesting the Sycamore. — Had A. E. pursued the usual ento- 

 mological course of feeding his caterpillar, and of tracing it through its 

 transformations, he would, in all probability, have long since obtained the 

 information he asks for at p. 93. The insect is common everywhere near 

 London, and its larvae infest the sycamore in the autumn. The imago 

 appears in September j it is not a iVoctua, but one of the JSorabycidse ; 

 the common vapourer moth of English collectors ; the Orgyia antiqua of 

 Ochsenheimer. The female of this moth is apterous, and deposits her eggs 

 on the external portion of the cocoon from which she escapes. — A. H. 

 Davis. Lo7idon, Feb^l. ]83'l. 



Greenish black-marked Caterpillars on Cabbages. (Vol. HI. p. 476.) — 

 The caterpillars are, no doubt, those of the large garden white butterfly 

 (Pontia brassicae); and the "minute eggs" I have no hesitation in refer- 

 ring to the pupae of a well known small parasite called Microgaster glo- 

 meratus (/chneumon glomeratus of -Lm.), of whose operations you will find 

 an account in Professor Rennie's Insect Transformations y^. 61, 62., where a 

 figure of the insect will be found in its different states, together with that 

 of the caterpillar on which it preys. The insect has also been figured in 

 your Magazine (Vol. III. p. 52.) under the name of Platygaster ovulorum, 

 which, in p. 432. of the same volume, is shown to be erroneously applied. 

 In Gai'd. Mag. (Vol. VII. p. 121.) will be found quoted the passage in In- 

 sect Transformations referred to, in^an article by your correspondent W. T. 

 Bree. I am. Sir, yours, &c. — A. D. Feb., 1831. 



The Rot in Sheep. — Sir, I have sent specimens {fig. 51.) of what are 

 provincially termed flukes, taken from the liver of a sheep 

 and generally supposed to be the cause of the rot, now 

 so very prevalent that it becomes a matter of no small, 

 consequence to ascertain what is the cause of the disease. 

 It is said by the farmers who have land by the river side 

 here, that the meadows never rot sheep unless they are 

 turned in immediately after a flood. Whether that is 

 the case or not, I will not pretend to say ; but if any of 

 your numerous correspondents could give information as 

 to the occasion of the rot ; in what manner the fluke gets 

 to the liver ; how produced, and to what class or family the flukes belong, 

 it may be a means of finding a remedy for a disease as fatal to sheep as 

 consumption is to man. I am, &c. — Rusticus. Newark on Trent, Feb. 4. 

 1830. 



Luminosity of the Sea. — Sir, Being out upon an excursion on the 19th 

 of last July, I wanted to get from Lowestoft to Yarmouth that evening. A 

 party of gentlemen whom I knew had engaged a boat for the same purpose, 

 and offered me a seat. Unfortunately there was no wind stirring, and we 

 were consequently kept upon the water four hours, namely, from six to ten 

 o'clock, in accomplishing a distance of nine miles. This, however, turned 

 out very fortunate for me, as I was particularly anxious to witness that 



