im}:i 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



71 



There were no important outbreaks of small-fruit pests brought to my natice during the 

 past season. The usual pests which occur every year, as the Currant Sawfly, Currant Looper, 

 Currant Aphis, White Grubs in strawberry beds, Cutworms, Raspberry Cane-borer, and Rasp- 

 berry Sawfly, and a few grape pests were reported ; but little injury was done, and remedies 

 are known for all of these. 



OBSERVATIONS UPON THE FOOD-HABITS OF HYMENOPTEROUS LARV.^. 

 By Rev. Thomas W. Fyles, Levis, Que. 



Nature has its tragedies : of such, entomology supplies numerous and startling examples. 

 Over-sensitive people may shudder at the thought of them, and be inclined to wonder that the 

 Beneficent Being, who originated and over-rules the forces of nature, should allow occasion and 

 place for them. But what would become of humanity if such creatures as the Hessian FJy, the 

 A Tiny Worm, and the Potato Beetle were allowed to increase without a check ? Is the thought 

 of mankind, and innumerable classes of inferior animals, perishing miserably of starvation less 

 appalling than the consideration of nature's methods of keeping down destructive pests ? 

 Human agency is often called in for the suppression of insect devourers ; but can we say that 

 the means of man's using, the burning, the crushing, the poisoning by Paris Green, etc., are 

 as far-reaching, as effective, as merciful, as those which nature uses to the same end ? 



It may be asked, Why are such destructive vegetarians as those you have mentioned 

 allowed a place in the economy of nature ? Doubtless to clear the districts they affect of 

 exclusive growths, that other plants may be preserved and perpetuated. Where destructive 

 insects intrude upon the fields of human industry, human reason and ingenuity are called into 

 play for their suppression ; and man is glad to perceive that he has numberless allies working 

 for the same end. ^ 



The fact is that the equilibrium in nature is maintained by a system of checks and counter- 

 checks ; and the more we examine this system, the more our admiration is excited by it. 



It is not my purpose to enter upon a systematic investigation of the Hymenoptera ; time 

 and space are not at my disposal for such an investigation. I shill confine my attention to a 

 brief consideration of the modes in which the larvpe of these creatures assail their victims. 



T find then that parasitic and predaceous Hymenopterous larviii may be classed thus : — 



A. Those that assail their victims /rom without. 



1. Those that suck the juices of their victims. 



2. Those that devour their prey bodily. 



B. Those that carry on their deadly work iiutltiH their victims. 



1. Those that leave their hosts to undergo their after changes. 



2. Those that enter upon the pupal stage within their hosts. 



A. — 1. Some years ago I found a yellow larva 



of a Geometrid which presented a strange appear- 

 ance. (Fig. 28). It had, seemingly, on the up2>er 

 surface of its middle segments, a bunch of bluish 

 green follicles, which it carried about as Christian 

 carried his bundle of sins ; but, unlike Christian, 

 it never in life was freed from its burden. The 

 seeming follicles were larva3 pressed closely to- 

 gether, and distenaed with food. Each of them 

 had its nozzle inserted in the back of the poor 

 caterpillar, and was draining its life-juices. The 

 victim succumbed in a few days ; and then its 

 assailants spread over its underside, and, after 



Fjo-. as. Larva of Geometrid (original 



