THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 157 



old tale of " a worm-rain " could have been believed. All those worms 

 belonged to Mermis nigrescens. Siebold has seen the immigration (boring 

 into) of young Mermis into the larvae of Hyponomeuta cognatella, and 

 Dr. Meissner into the legs of larvae of Ephemera. The " boring into " is 

 done by an armature on the head of the Mermis consisting of twelve 

 movable hooks placed in a double series around, and serving later as a 

 means of locomotion into the interior of the body of the host. 



It should be remembered that the Mermis leaves the host later to go 

 into the earth, and that only there the se*xual parts are developed and the 

 brood generated. 



The species was first described by Rudolphi as Filaria acuminata, and 

 later by Siebold as Mermis acuminata. 



A NEW SPECIES OF PHIGALIA. 



BY G. H. FRENCH, CARBONDALE, ILL. 



Phigalia cinctaria, n. sp. 



Wingless female. — Length .75 of an inch ; exserted oviduct, .25 

 more. Color light gray with a very slight olive tint, and irregularly mot- 

 tled all over with black ; the spots large above, but smaller on the sides 

 and beneath ; the thorax nearly uniform black ; the divisions between the 

 segments pea green while alive, but turning darker in drying. Head 

 grayish black, the clypeus black ; antennae black, annulated with gray, 

 reaching to about the middle of the body, when turned back. Hind 

 wings reaching to the back part of the first abdominal segment, the fore 

 wings reaching to the middle of the same segment. Feet and legs grayish 

 black, annulated with gray. The o>iduct with two joints exserted, the 

 last third of the outer joint hairy, the hairs perpendicular to the joint. 

 Head short, scarcely to be seen from above, rather wide between the 

 eyes ; palpi short. From a single °_ . 



Chrysalis. — Length, exclusive of bristles, .55 of an inch. Dark 

 brown, coarsely punctured, the punctures between the segments fine, the 

 abdomen ending in a conical segment, which is smooth at the end and 

 tipped with two short, stout, divergent bristles. Subterranean. 



