224 THE entomologist's record. 



fCIENTIFIC NOTES & OBSERVATIONS, 



An exact observation on tee duration of the several stages 

 IN THE Life-History of Coremia unidentaria. — On May 7th, an 

 ordinary 2 laid one egg ; on May 18tli this hatched, and the larva fed 

 on marigold ; on June 14th, the larva spun up in saw-dust ; on June 

 29th, the imago emerged. Duration of stages : egg, 11 days ; larva, 

 28 days ; pupa, 15 days. — F. J. Bockell, 32, Canonbury Square, N. 



Argynnis euphrosyne attracted by dead female. — Apropos of 

 your remarks on " A. eiqyhrosy^ie at fault," I saw a male flirting with a 

 female for some time, returning to it again and again, and found, on 

 closer inspection, that the female was dead and dry. — W. W. Esam, 

 Eagle House, St. Leonards. 



Stridulation in Haltas prasinana. — The other evening I heard a 

 male H. j^'^'asinana that was pursuing a female utter a succession of 

 shrill cries, which it continued after being caught in the net. I am 

 told this is not unusual, but thought it might be interesting to some of 

 your readers. — W. W. Esam. June 22nd, 1893. 



Tyroglyphus faring in New Zealand. — At the meeting of the 

 Entomological Society of London, held on February 22nd (Ent. Rec, 

 p. 86), Mr. E. W. Lloyd exhibited specimens of Tyroijlyplim farina' 

 found in New Zealand wheat. The species is extremely plentiful in 

 the grain-sheds at Ashburton, and has been known here for many years. 

 I have no doubt that the specimens were found in last season's grain, 

 as much of it was seriously damaged by heavy rains wliile in stook. 

 The warm rains caused the grain to sjjrout in the stook, and the result 

 proved a considera])le loss to many farmers. After much of the inferior 

 wheat had been threshed and bagged, it had a slight tendency to heat 

 and become a little soft. These conditions were very favourable to the 

 development of Tyroglyphus farina;, and many thousands of sacks of 

 grain were, more or less, attacked by this Acarus. It is called " wheat 

 mite " by the New Zealand farmers, and it is much more common on 

 inferior than on well-gTown and fully ripened wheat : it is, in fact, 

 rarely seen on the latter, excepting when it may have been stored for 

 some time in a damp place. I have ascertained tliat these minute 

 insects can be attracted to tlie surface of the grain by opening the Ijags 

 and placing j^ieces of melted fat thereon. I discovered this by baiting 

 an open-bottomed spring mousetrap with beef dripping, and setting it 

 on the exposed wheat to trap mice. Next morning I found great 

 nvimbers of Tyroghjplms farince. adhering to the bait, and on the second 

 morning they swarmed on it in thousands. It is a noxious insect that 

 could be easily distributed all over the Avorld in a few years, in grain- 

 carrying ships. — W. W. Smith, Ashburton, N. Z. Ap>ril, 1893. 



Notes on the early stages of Lycjena argiolus. — I captured a 

 large number of females of Lycc^na argiolus, which has been unusually 

 abundant at Sutton Park this year, and confined them in a large 

 sleeve with several branches of holly bearing a large crop of buds and 

 flowers. The butterflies laid their ova very sparingly, but I obtained 

 altogether about 20 or 30 eggs. Owing, I suppose, to the holly not 

 being in its natural state (the stems had been cut off the tree and 

 placed in water), all the buds, including those bearing the ova, 

 quickly opened, faded, fell off and got mixed amongst the debris at the 



