RAVAGES OF CATERPILLARS. 



215 



pseudo-caterpillars of one of tlie saw-flies (JVemahis 

 Ribcsii, SxEPHEiNs). The latter insect has a flat jel- 

 low bo(iy and four pellucid wings, the two outer ones 

 marked with brown on the edge. In April it issues 

 from the pupa, which has lain under ground from the 

 preceding September. The female of the gooseberry 

 saw-fly does not, like some of the family, cut a groove 

 in the branch to deposit her eggs; — ' of what use, 

 then,' asks R aumur, ' is her ovipositor saw?'* In 

 order to satisfy himself on this point, he introduced 

 a pair of the flies under a bell-glass along with a 

 branch bent from a red-currant bush, that he might 

 waich the process. The female immediately peram- 

 bulated the leaves in search of a place suited to 

 her purpose, and passing under a leaf began to lay,. 



^V."^.^. 



n n a, t^^aw-fly of the gooseberry C^^'-rnatta^ Rl/ -"H, ^te| hers), b, its 

 e;:^'s on the nervines ot u leiif. d d, the cateii.ilhir& eating, c, one 

 rolleiJ u[t. /, one exlendcd. 



* See Insect Architecture, chap, vii, for a description ofthiit 

 eurious instrument. 



