1878.] ' 171 



the ground in loose, irregular masses of about 130 on an average — 

 the female excavating a hole for the purpose, and afterwards covering 

 up the mass by scratching with her feet. In confinement, she some- 

 times omits both these instinctive acts, and oviposits on the surface 

 of the ground. She lays at several different intervals, producing in 

 the aggregate probably from four to five hundred ova, judging from 

 examinations made on the ovaries of some that were gravid. She 

 prefers for purposes of oviposition the very same warm sunny 

 locations chosen by the locusts, and doubtless instinctively places her 

 eggs near those of these last, as I have on several occasions found 

 them in close proximity. In the course of about 10 days — more or 

 less, according to the temperature of the ground — the first larva or 

 triungulin hatches. The hatching takes place without the aid of any 

 ruptor ovi, for the egg-shell is so delicate that it easily splits, from 

 mere expansion, along the back near the head, and breaks and shrivels 

 up with the escape of the larva. These little triungulins, at first 

 feeble and perfectly white, soon assume their natural light brown 

 colour and commence to move about. At night or during cold or wet 

 weather, all those of a batch huddle together with little motion, but 

 when warmed by the sun they become very active, running with their 

 long legs over the ground, and prying with their large heads and 

 strong jaws into every crease and crevice in the soil, into which, in 

 due time, they burrow and hide. Under the. microscope, they are seen 

 to fairly bristle with spinous hairs, which aid in burrowing. As 

 becomes a carnivorous creature whose prey must be industriously 

 sought, they display great power of endurance, and will survive for a 

 fortnight without food in a moderate temperature. Tet in the search 

 for locust eggs many are, without doubt, doomed to perish, and only 

 the more fortunate succeed in finding appropriate diet. Upon the 

 slightest disturbance they curl up in a ball with the head bent pretty 

 closely on the breast. 



Reaching a locust egg-pod, our triungulin, by chance, or instinct, 

 or both combined, commences to burrow through the mucous neck, or 

 covering, and makes its first repast thereon. If it has been long in 

 the search, and its jaws are well hardened, it makes quick work through 

 this porous and cellular matter, and at once gnaws away at an egg, 

 first devouring a portion of the shell, and then, in the course of two 

 or three days, sucking up the contents. Should two or more triungulins 

 enter the same egg-pod, a deadly conflict sooner or later ensues until 

 one alone remains the victorious possessor. By the time the contents 

 of an egg are consumed, the body of the parasite has perceptibly 



