5i8 Bulletin 78. 



blackish. The terminal joints of the antennae are so thickly cov- 

 ered with the short hairs as to have a grey appearance. 



This little foe received its name, Aleochara nilidi, in Germany in 1802. 

 There are also frequent references to it in later systematic works by Europe- 

 ans, thus indicating that it is widely spread and doubtless common in various 

 parts of Europe. It has been known in this country since 1836, when Say 

 described it from Missouri as Aleochara verna ; this name was made a syn- 

 onym of nitida by Le Conte in 1869. In 1870, Mr. Sprague found the 

 beetle in Massachusetts, and being advised that it was a new species. describ- 

 ed it as Aleochara anthomyiae, by which name it has since been discussed 

 by American economic writers. However, for nearly ten years, the insect 

 has been considered identical with nitida by systematists (Henshaw's L,istof 

 Coleoptera). In America the insect is now known to occur in Missouri, 

 Massachusets, New York, and Canada. It thus has a wide distribution both 

 in Europe and in this country. 



Nothing seems to have been recorded of the habits of this little 

 beetle until 1870, when Mr. Sprague published the following ac- 

 count : 



"I took from the earth in my garden, around the root of a dead cabbage 

 plant, twenty-six pupae of the Cabbage Maggot, from which I bred two 

 imagoes ; also six parasites which came out of the pupa-cases by gnawing a 

 rough hole through the side near the extremity, after which I took from the 

 remaining pupa cases three imagoes, and one pupa of the Rove-beetle. My 

 surprise was so great upon discovering the six Rove-beetles where I expect- 

 ed two winged flies, that I carefully examined with a microscope the remain- 

 ing pupa-cases, as also those from which the flies came, but could discover 

 no break or orifice by which the Rove-beetles could have entered. It was 

 after this examination that I opened the balance with the above stated re- 

 sults; thus proving, so far as I can judge, that the fly larva was entered be- 

 fore its skin had hardened into the pupa-case." 



In 1880, Mr. Barnard found the beetle very abundant here at 

 Ithaca. He says : 



" They are often seen running from one young cabbage to another, or en- 

 tering holes, but more commonly close about the stalk. Half of our young 

 cabbages here, last year and this, have been kil ed by the maggots, and now 

 on pulling up an infested stalk, these beetles often come out, sometimes 

 several from about one plant. To test their habits, I put a maggot in a bot- 

 tle with them. When hungry a single one alone will attack a full-sized 

 maggot, tearing open its sides and feasting upon it. I have seen five of them 

 like a pack of wolves, cling to and tear a writhing maggot, killing it quickly. 

 They are wonderfully active, and promise to be the best enemy against the 

 fly which has ruined so many crops here." 



Four years ago Mr. Fletcher made the following observations 

 on the habits of this relentless foe of this cabbage pest : 



