154 DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



not that the cold kills them, the mischief they would do would be incalculable, 

 as they multiply exceedingly fast, and are very active during the continuance of 

 the hot weather. Another fact in connexion with them is the partiality they 

 have for collecting in or on places where wet has been spilled. I have seen small 

 spots covered with them to the depth of about half an inch. This may, perhaps, 

 be accounted for by their crawling on blindly, and so becoming entangled in the 

 wet. I do not, however, think this likely, as they must have gone out of their 

 usual course to get to the wet portion of the flooring. This is a curious fact, in 

 opposition to their usual custom of selecting the driest and warmest places they 

 can find. 'By their borings in wheat they cause a large quantity of dust to ac- 

 cumulate, which, mixed with the Nile mud, which«is always more or less mixed 

 through Egyptian wheat, makes, as I am credibly informed, an exceedingly fer- 

 tilizing manure, almost equal in its forcing effects to guano. I regret that my 

 information as to species, &c,, is too limited ; but as I have not studied them 

 scientifically, I hope I shall be excused on that head. Their appearance under 

 a microscope exposed to a moderate magnifying power is exceedingly beautiful, 

 and agreeably disappointing to one who has only seen them with the naked eye. 

 They are covered with brilliant spots, bearing some resemblance to those on the 

 elytra of the diamond beetle. 1 tried several modes of killing them, and found 

 hot water the speediest. Chloroform (which will destroy without injury almost 

 any insect) also kills them ; but, if put into cold water, and left for a consider- 

 able period, when taken out and placed in a moderately warm situation, they, 

 in many instances, recover, although, to all appearance, quite dead. With re- 

 spect to chloroform, it may not be out of place to say, that I have found it the 

 most humane, and, at the same time, the quickest way of killing them without 

 injury — butterflies, moths, beetles, and, in fact, most insects ; and even if 

 spilled on the most delicate insect, the evaporation is so rapid that it does not 

 injure it in the slightest degree ; whilst a few drops put into a box with the most 

 refractory butterfly or moth kills it in a few seconds. 



Dr. Kinahan said he could, from his own observation, corroborate Mr. 

 Haughton's statement as to the number and destructiveness of these insects. On 

 examination he found there were evidently six coleopterous and one dipterous 

 species present among the corn. These he submitted to his friend A. R. 

 Hogan, Esq., who kindly examined thenl, as well as the packages of insects 

 taken from the wheat, in which latter Mr. Hogan detected another species of 

 coleopterous insect. From Mr. Hogan's list it appeared that the most numerous 

 species present were Calandra oryzae and granaria, as well immature as full 

 grown. These two species made up the great bulk of the heaps. Next in point 

 of numbers came Corticaria ferruginea and Cor. pubescens, in about equal 

 quantities. The other species present were Stene ferruginea and Silvanus Su- 

 rinamensis ; this latter detected by Mr. Hogan. These, with a single specimen 

 of Tenebrio molitor, make out no less than eight species of granivorous beetle 

 infesting this parcel of corn. 



MAY 12, 1854. 



OCCURRENCE OF DI8COMYZA INCDRVA IN IRELAND. 



Dr. Kinahan exhibited a specimen of Discomyza incurva (the species kindly 

 determined by A. R. Hogan, Esq.). This fly, now first added to the Irish lists, 

 was found by him in the shell of Helix nemoralis, where the insect had evidently 

 undergone its transformation, as, when found, it was in the act of cutting its 

 way out through the epiphragm. It was captured in the early part of April, 

 1854. 



