56 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOOtETY OF ONTARIO. 



before the caterpillar has spun its wonderful cocoon. When this is finished the Cryptus 

 larvjv, finding no more fat in preparation, hold a grand carnival on the vitals and frame 

 of their host, and then spin their own cocoons within the snug winter quarters prepared 

 by their unhappy victim. In them they lie through the winter as snugly packed, Fig, 39„ 

 as herrings in a barrel or sardines in a box. 



Cannibals. 



Among insfct feeders upon insects the "Cannibals" must not be passed by. Of 

 ICngliah caterpillars that have a bad reputation as such, Thyatira derasa, Characlea 

 Delpliini! and Cosmia t7-apezina are well-known examples. With Mantis Carolina Linn, 

 the nuptial embrace has been known to end in the death grip, and the female to make a 

 wedding breakfast of her spouse. 



But the most startling story of all was told by J. F. Stephens, author of " Illustra- 

 tions of British Entomology." He said that having turned the tail of a dragonfly 

 round to the head he saw the insect make a meal of four joints of 

 its own abdomen. (See Ent. Mag. L, p. 518). If this story had not 

 come from so good a source, we -should have thought it of like kind to 

 that told of the Irishman, who, having disturbed a mud-turtle, " saw 

 the baste swallow its own head." 



There remains one other sort of devourers of insects that I wish 

 to notice before concluding my paper-— it is 



Fungi. 



We are accustomed to the idea of insects feeding upon vegetables, 

 but that of vegetables feeding upon insects is not so familiar to us. 



A fungus that has excited much interest amongst naturalists is the 

 Sphairia, Robertsiana,^ which grows in, and out from, the caterpillar of a 

 New Zealand Ghost-moth, Ilepialus virescens. This caterpillar under- 

 goes its pupal change in the soil. But it often happens that a spore 

 from the Sphreria finds a lodgment upon the body of a Ilepialus cater- 

 pillar — usually between the head and the segment following — and, vege- 

 tating there, penetrates to the creature's in.side. The animal contents 

 of the caterpillar are by degrees exhausted by the fungus, and the 

 skin — which retains its perfect form — becomes filled with vegetable 

 tissues. At the same time one or more sprouts from the fungus rise 

 through the soil, and into the open air. Fig 40. The sporules are 

 formed round the top of this shoot, which is sometimes ten inches long. 

 The parasitized larva is called by the Maories " Hotete." It is sought for 

 by them and greedily eaten. It is said to have a nutty taste. 



There is a fungus of somewhat similar habits that affects the 

 larvte of the May-beetle, Lachnosterna Jii^nca, Frohl. It is found at 

 Quebec. 



In my paper entitled " A Day in the Woods," published in the 

 Society's twenty-first Report, I told of a fungus Entomophtora grylli 

 var. aulica, Fres, that was destroying the caterpillars of Arctians of differ- 

 ent kinds. This fungus is still destructive. It affects particularly the 

 larvtc of Leucarctia Acrcea Drury and Spilosoma Virginica, Fabr. 



It may be that our meadows have been preserved from depreda- 

 tions, such as those described by Harris, under the head of "The Salt 

 Marsh Caterpillar," — ("Insects Injurious to Vegetation," p. 351), by the 

 agency of this fungus. Fig. 40."^ 



Time would fail to do justice to my theme— a volume might be written on every 

 division of it ; but I trust that I have said enough to awaken interest, and to stimulate 

 research. 



