CHALCIDID^E. 



[ 159 ] 



CHALK. 



of species of Mantis from Brazil and the Me 

 of I'raiioe ; aud Sells has recorded the oc- 

 currence of uo less lliau ninety-four speci- 

 mens of a small Pleromulus in a single egg- 

 case of a Blatta. 



Other minute species deposit their eggs 

 in the bodies of Aphides ; aud their larvie 

 tind a 8utKeient supply of nourishment even 

 iu such small insects as these. Some, 

 especially those forming the genus Cocco- 

 2)Jio(/us of Westwood, attack the Coccidcc, 

 of which they destroy great numbers. 



Other species, including most of the larger 

 forms, live parasitically in the cells of the 

 solitary Bees and Wasps. Amongst these 

 -we may notice the singular genus Mono- 

 dontomerus, one species of which, first 

 discovered by Audouin, and described by 

 Newport iu the ' Linnean Transactions,' is 

 found in the nests of Odynerus, AnfJiop/tora, 

 aud Osmia. The male of this remarkable 

 insect has only rudimentary wings, so that 

 it is unable to quit the cell of the Bee or 

 "Wasp in whicli it passed its earlier stages, 

 w'hilst the female, being well provided with 

 wings, can fly about, after impregnation, to 

 seek other nests iu which to deposit her eggs. 

 The species which are furnished with long 

 ovipositors belong chietly to the genus t'al- 

 limome (tig. 14, C. cynipis) ; they deposit 

 their eggs in different kinds of galls, the 

 vegetable excrescences caused by the punc- 

 tures of various other insects upon plants. 

 The larvfe of these gallicclous ChacididcO 

 devovu" the rightful occupant of the gaU. 



The instinct which prompts these insects 

 to deposit their eggs in the larvai of these 

 gall-producing insects, is scarcely so asto- 

 nishing as that by which others are impelled 

 to insert theirs into the bodies of other para- 

 sitic insects, whilst still enclosed within 

 the tissues of their victim. Some of these, 

 such as Viirysolaminis si(spc7isus and C'oruna 

 claiata, attack the larvie of the Apltidii, 

 minute Ichneumons which infest the bodies 

 of Aphides ; and De Fili[ipi has recorded 

 the occurrence of the larvte of one species 

 within a small Dipterous larva which itself 

 lives in the (^^^ vi lihyniliites Betuleti in 

 the vineyards near Turin (^Ann. N. H. 1852, 

 ix. 4(jl). l>e Filippi is inclined to regard 

 the phenomena observed by him as an in- 

 stance of alternation of generations; but 

 they evidently constitute an example of 

 double parasitism. 



BiBL. Westwood, Introd. ii. & Zod. Jn. ; 

 Spinola, Ann. 3Iiiseum, xvii. 138-152 ; Nees 

 von Eseubeck, Jlynenopt. Ichncum. Man. 



ii. ; Boyer de Fonscolombe, Mon. Chalc. 

 Gallo-l'rovincifB, Ann. Sci. Nat. xxvi. ; 

 Walker, Man. Chalcid.; Dalman and Bohe- 

 man in Koixjl. Vet. Alutd. JIandlinyar ; 

 Walker, Entum. May. and Ann. N. H. ; 

 Gueriu's May. de ZouL, Ent. May. &c., and 

 Haliday, Enfom. Mag. 



CllA'LIMUS, Burm.— A genus of Crus- 

 tacea, of the order Siphonostoma, and fa- 

 mily Caligndse. 



Char. Fourth pair of legs slender, of only 

 one branch, and serving for walking ; frontal 

 plate with a long aud slender prehensile 

 appendage arising from the middle of its 

 anterior surface. 



C scombri. Found upon the mackerel, 

 and upon species of Caliyus, of which it has 

 been supposed to be the young ; length 

 about 1-U". 



BiBL. Burmeister, N.A.Acad. N. C. Bonn, 

 xvii. ; Baird, Brit. Entomostr. p. 278. 



CHALK. — An eartliy form of carbonate 

 of lime, constituting strata of great thick- 

 ness in England and several parts of Europe, 

 &c. The application of the microscope to 

 the examination of chalk brought to hght 

 the interesting fact that this substance has 

 not had its origin in chemical precipitation, 

 since it contains abundance of the inorganic 

 remains ( if marine animals, and a few plants, 

 perhaps doubtful. 



Many of these relics are not microscopic, 

 as those of Fishes and Reptiles, the shells of 

 Malacostracous Crustacea, Mollusca, Echi- 

 nodermata, the polypidoms of Zoophytes, 

 &c. ; hence their consideration does not 

 come within our province : yet it must be 

 remembered that their microscopic structiire 

 is characteristic, so that the class, order, or 

 even the more minute division of the ani- 

 mal kingdom to which they belong may be 

 discovered. See Bone and Shf.ll. 



The chief microscopic constituents of the 

 calcareous formations examined by Ehren- 

 berg, viz. chalk, and uummulitic and other 

 compact limestones, were found to be 

 shells of Foraminifera, spicules of sponges, 

 and peculiar bodies called crystalloids ; and 

 several siliceo-calcareous earths he found 

 to be wholly composed of s]iicules, Diato- 

 maceje, I'olycystina, and Foraminifera. 



The F( raminifera found by Ehrenberg 

 in the Grave.-end chalk were: — Cristellaria 

 ctdtrata, Glohiyerina cretacca, Ilelerosto- 

 niella acrdeata aud tiinums, Nodvsaria ovi- 

 cnla, Flanorhidina ammunoides, Polymor- 

 phina TJivimti, Pulvinidina Micheliniana, 

 Textularia ayylutinans, yiilosa, ylolulosa, 



