60 Ohservcdions on Insects ajfectbig the Turnip Crops. 



horns, composed of thirteen joints ; head and thorax bright green, 

 shagreened ; abdomen short, ovate, pointed, very glossy bottle- 

 green ; wings nerveless, excepting a single nervure near the 

 anterior margin of the superior, which forms a little clavate 

 branch beyond the middle ; legs pitch- colour, nearly 1 line long 

 and 2 broad. 



10. Colax aphidii, Curtis.'^ Horns pale brown, hairy, thir- 

 teen-jointed, apicial joint lance-shaped ; head and thorax shining 

 bluish-green ; abdomen more yellow-green, very glossy, de- 

 pressed, clavate ; wings similar to the last, but the button of the 

 nervure is larger ; legs ochraceous ; hinder thighs brownish at 

 the middle ; length, | ; expanse, 1 j line. 



Both the above insects belong to the Family CiiALCiDiDiE. 

 I have bred the last from the indurated skins of the aphides 

 which had been infested by the Aphidii. When touched, this 

 fly skips about. 



It is not a little remarkable that some of the CynijndcB or gall- 

 flies, which form the ''Oak-apples," " Robin's pincushions," <5cc., 

 prey in the same way upon the plant-lice, leaving their horny 

 skins sticking to the leaves on which they fed. Amongst them I 

 shall describe two only from my own collection. 



11. Cynips quercus-inferus ? Linnaeus.^ Pitch colour, shin- 

 ing ; head and thorax rugose ; horns and mouth bright rust- 

 colour ; the former composed of fourteen joints ; wings iridescent, 

 with the nervures pale reddish-brown, having an elongate-trigonate 

 cell on the margin, with an indistinct minute arcolet at its inner 

 angle ; legs ochraceous ; length, 1^ ; expanse 3 lines. 



This was bred from aphides by the late Mr. T. Carpenter. 



12. equips fulviceps, Ci/T-f/s. J Glossy black ; horns longish ; 

 thirteen-jointed ; fuscous, ochraceous at the base ; head and legs 

 bright ochraceous ; wings iridescent ; nervures bright brown ; 

 arcolet none ; length, J ; expanse, nearly 2 lines. 



I have bred several of this pretty species from aphides ; and 

 Jurine has figured another in his '' Hymenopteres" of the same 

 habits, called by him C. eryfhrocephalus, pi. xii. gen. 40. 



We will now return to the insects which destroy the aphides, 

 amongst which are some larger species of hymenopterous flies, 

 belonging to the Family of Crabronid^e, which it is necessary 

 to notice and describe here. § 



13. Trypoxylon figulus, Linn. :\\ is shining black, clothed with 



* Brit. Ent., pi. and fol. 166, and Guide Gen., 641. 

 t Curt. Guide Gen., 564, 14. 



t Brit. Ent., pi. and fol. 688; Guide Gen., 564, 27. 



^ Those who wish to identify these insects with greater certainty must 

 consult the plates and descriptions referred to. 



(I Curtis"s Brit. Ent., fol. and pi. 652, and Guide Gen. 682, 1. 



