Art. XIIT. — The Entomogenoiis Fungi of Victoria. 

 By D. Mc Alpine and W. H. F. Hill. 



[Read 9th August, 1S94.] 



I. 



Introductory. 



Entoinogenous Fungi, or fungi parasitic upon insects, have not 

 hitherto received the attention in this colony whicli their impor- 

 tance deserves. Only eleven species are recorded for Australia, 

 and six of these belong to Victoria, and yet there are quite a 

 number awaiting the attention of the patient investigator. Dr. 

 Cooke, in his Handbook of Australian Fungi, and in his popular 

 volume on Vegetable Wasps and Plant Worms, has given us a 

 more or less full account of these ; but to anyone willing to take 

 up the subject, there is a wide field for extended observation 

 and description on the spot. We have attempted a beginning by 

 way of extending our knowledge in this fascinating region, and 

 trust that mycologists and entomologists may combine in un- 

 earthing the numerous forms of Entomogenous Fungi, which 

 seem to flourish unrecorded in our midst. The subject has a 

 dual aspect, as the name denotes. There is the entomological 

 side in which the insects attacked by fungi are considered, and 

 the mycological side in which the fungi attacking the insects are 

 studied. To do full justice to the subject, both sides have to 

 receive attention, the nature and habits of the insect being 

 necessary for the proper understanding of the life-history of the 

 fungus, and the fungi themselves vary according to the habits of 

 the insects attacked. One of us is mainly i-esponsible for the 

 mycological portion, while the other has made careful study of 

 the entomological part. 



In addition to the entomological and mycological aspect, there 

 is also an economic one, for apart altogether from the scientific 

 investigation of these fungus-bearing insects and insect-destroying 

 fungi, the subject has very important practical bearings. Every 

 one is familiar with the common house-fly, transfixed to tlie 



