24 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ous Insects," p. 337.) The habits of this moth are very similar to 

 those of our canker worms {Anisopteryx). When the moths appear in the 

 autumn, the females crawl up the trunks of trees and lay their eggs on the 

 branches. In this condition the insect passes the winter. 



The following description of the larv?e was taken from the British 

 Columbian specimens sent by Mr. Danby : — 



Mature Larva. — Length, i^ inches. Head, round, bilobed at apex, 

 chestnut-red, mottled. Mouth parts darkened. Dorsal region reddish- 

 brown, darkened with fine black broken lines arranged as follows : A 

 dorsal double stripe which widens a little in the middle of each segment 

 and is shaded with pale yellow ; two narrow subdorsal lines, rather indis- 

 tinct, and placed on a reddish field ; a double lateral stripe, the lower line of 

 which is distinct and sinuous. Beneath this dorsal area the stigmatal area 

 is bright yellow. The spiracles themselves are white, ringed with black, 

 and are in the centre of blotches of reddish-brown shaded anteriorly 

 with black. Ventral area, including thoracic feet and prolegs, pale yellow. 

 Some specimens are much darker than others ; in the darkest there is a 

 broken supraventral stripe just beneath the substigmatal fold, sometimes 

 running up on to it. The prolegs on loth segment are also sometimes 

 darkened exteriorly. 



I believe the British Columbian insect to be identical with the English, 

 as I can find no difference between either the moths or the caterpillars. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW HYMENOPTEROUS PARA- 

 SITES FROM WATER BEETLES. 



BY WILLIAM H. ASHMEAD, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



I can find no record of the breeding of Hymenopterous parasites from 

 water beetles, in either the European or American faunas, and it is, there- 

 fore, with considerable pleasure that I here describe two distinct species 

 of Hymenopterous insects, reared from water beetles by Mr. H. F. Wick- 

 ham, of Iowa City, Iowa, belonging in genera not yet reported as 

 occurring in our fauna. 



The genus Gausocentnis is one of Fdrster's new genera erected in his 

 '' Synopsis der Familien und Gattungen der Ichneumonen," 1868, p. 198, 

 and appears a valid one, although, so far as I am aware, it still remains 

 unrecognized by European authorities. 



