416 British parasitic Hymcnuptera : - 



During the months of May and June in the present year 

 (1833), Mr. Lewis recommenced his observations, having suc- 

 ceeded in rearing some perfect ichneumons at the commence* 

 ment ©jj^hft !^f^r month. He accordingly " plaee,d a male 

 under a gkiss, with some flowers of ^flyssum : the insect, 

 after perambulating the flower for some time, went into the 

 corolla as far as he could, but did not seem able to reach the 



aft^^ards ^a^e iurij^ sto^jsugar^p.fj ^lcJ^.^jW^.e^r^mely 



%$kWM? ied } n f °: UC r*&8(>** I oxh norm h?rt%thi vh 

 -.*- ilW3 ^fffl Wt bWii a lM ' e ^Wimtf^Wte [PflWr 9^<F¥ififit 



ate sugar; but, in the evening, the female began to attack the 



rolled-up caterpillars. On May 14. she killed a caterpillar, but 

 could not get it to come previously out of the leaf; she, there- 

 fore, gnawed a hole through the leaf, .keeping her ovipositor 

 in the caterpillar, and gnawing round it as a guide. She 

 then withdrew her ovipositor, and began eating the caterpil- 

 lar: 'when 'she had eaten as much as was under jj^^|e p , she 

 used her tail as a fork to bring her dinner within reach. One 

 thrust of the ovipositor in the head of a larva generally 

 deprives that part of motion; caterpillars above half an inch 

 in length require more killing : the ichneumons, however, 



" In one instance i observed an ichneumon drive out a 

 caterpillar from the folds of a leaf; when another ichneumon 

 thrust at it, and drove it. to the edge of. the glass, where, after 



and, unsneathing her ovipositor, seemed determined to .mam- 



ta n? J 1 >§L?1^ s ii whe T e iWf fy^H ?^fn^^ ] kf{\ l ^\Mh^ 



the table ot the bear and the lion, or convinced by the more 



powerful argument behind, allowed her to have a share. They 

 ate together amicably," (?) " until the caterpillar w r as too small 



one of them seizing it in 



any on her companion; and,, 

 upsetting her, seized the skin or the caterpillar, now not 

 worth! fcfflnteudSng foiv They are very pugnaciou^- fighting 

 with' their wings and legs; aiidVfreddeftt& L ?^ ! > ! dinner, 

 w^g Oj d KPdW' - est '-f vlf S T TO&i?*£ * " e > T > " ow ever, spent 



■ tf Towards the end of May the females com men ced< toying 1 " 

 their eggs, which hatched in three cMl^ag|p^ *.-h wdi 



