i9i8. Noles. 13 



Sphinx convolvuli attacked by Larvae of Dipteron. 



During the month of September last (10 16) I was given a specimen 

 of S. convolvuli which was captured in a garden near Inchicore, Dublin. 

 It was just caught, and seemed unable to move. This struck me as very 

 strange, as it is always very lively, and a powerful flier, as I well know 

 now having caught several specimens in bygone years in my garden 

 here. I kept it in a box intending to set it, and the next time I looked 

 at it, it was surrounded by tiny chrysalides, which I thought at the time 

 were some species of ichneumon. Most, if not all of them, emerged in 

 time. They numbered in all 76 ! 



I think that they are some species of dipteron, as they are unlike 

 ichneumons. Fancy the poor moth, doing its best to live, and devoured 

 internally by such a number of hungry enemies. I have not read of a 

 case of this kind before. It seems wonderful that the larva was able 

 to pupate (perhaps, however, the pupa was stung), and besides that to 

 emerge in to life in the imago state, while 76 internal foes were preying 

 on its body. I have sent some of the specimens to my friend, Mr. 

 Halbert, for identification. 



William W. Flemyng. 

 Coolfin, Portlaw, Co. Waterford. 



The insects bred from the above mentioned Hawk-moth are all referable 

 to a single species, a small two-winged fly belonging to the genus Phora, 

 so that Canon Flemyng is right in supposing them to be Diptera. 

 Unfortunately only one of the specimens is in a good state of preservation, 

 the others are spoiled by a white powder through being kept loose in a 

 box with the puparia from which they emerged. This specimen has 

 been sent to Mr. Collin for examination. I have little doubt, however, 

 that the fly is a species called Phora rufipes Meigen, an identification 

 which I hope to have verified as soon as Mr. Collin has time to examine 

 the insect. 



Pkora rufipes is recorded b)^ Walker [Insecta Bntannica : Diptera) as a 

 very abundant fly in England, Scotland, and Ireland. According to 

 Schiner (" Fauna Austriaca ") the larva is parasitic on Lepidoptera, and 

 is also found in rotten potatoes and in fungi. The same authority states 

 that the life-histories of several species of Phora are known ; the larvae 

 live in decayed vegetable matter, and some are parasitic on other insects. 

 The genus Phora is numerous in species ; more than thirty kinds ar 

 included in Mr. Verrall's " List of British Diptera " (1901). 



National Museum, Dublin. 



J. N. Halbert, 



