1882.] 141 



duced the perfect insect this summer. Many Dipterous parasites appeared which 

 accounted for some of them, whilst the cold weather in June and July, just at the 

 critical time of the larva's change, when, probably, a certain degree of heat is 

 absolutely necessary to enable it to go through the process, explained, perhaps, the 

 failure of the rest. The larva is plump and fat, somewhat attenuated behind, and 

 with deeply cut divisions. A furrow crosses each segment rather behind the centre. 

 Colour, orange as far as spiracular region, whitish below, the line of separation being 

 somewhat abrupt. Occasionally, a specimen occurs in which the whole surface is 

 whitish. Head small, chestnut ; mouth black. Thoracic plate large, pale brown ; 

 anal plate faintly amber-coloured, variegated with pale brown. Its resemblance to 

 some of its allies is very close : I compared it on several occasions with cana and 

 Scopoliana, and could see no broad, self-evident distinction, so far as form and 

 markings went, but there was one point that served to distinguish them at once, and 

 that was the difference in their manners. 



iScopoliana and ca?ia were the slow, sluggish creatures their forms suggested, 

 whereas my larva belied its appearance, and was quick and active in its movements. 

 It feeds concealed in August and September on the seeds of Sonchus arvensis, 

 passing, when necessary, to a fresh flower, but not uniting them with silk. The 

 cocoon is spun just beneath the surface of the soil, and the larva remains unchanged 

 in it till the following summer, when the pupa-case is left protuding after the emer- 

 gence of the moth. The larvse showed no tendency to wander when they had done 

 feeding, but burrowed at once, which made me hope I should breed the perfect 

 insect in good numbers this summer, but the cold weather altogether beat me. 

 Outside, as well as in my breeding bottles, the insect seems to have failed, for no 

 larvse could be found this autumn. 



That a certain amount of heat is requisite before the pupal state can be assumed, 

 especially in the case of those larvse that remain for a long time unchanged in their 

 cocoons and want, as it were, to be roused up, I think I had recently a striking proof 

 in Ephijipiphora regiana. Wanting a few specimens, I gathered at midsummer a 

 dozen or more cocoons : one moth came out in July, the rest of the cocoons at the 

 present moment still contain unchanged and living larvse. — John H. Wood, Tar- 

 rington, Ledbury : ^th October, 1882. 



The question of parasitism or non-parasitism in certain Ertrytomides. — I see 

 that at p. 48 of the present volume of the Ent. Mo. Mag., it is stated that Professor 

 Westwood read a paper at the Meeting of the Entomological Society of London, 

 May 3rd, 1882, on this question. Mr. Fitch's opinion is also given. I think the 

 question is already suiEciently solved in an article of mine in the " Archives Neer- 

 landaises des Sciences exactes." v, pp. 420 — 27, pi. xii (1870) : " Sur la maniere de 

 vivre de V Eurytoma longipennis. Walk." I have there given the description of the 

 metamorphosis and habits, with figures of the different states, and of the swellings 

 on Psamma arenaria, and the parasites. I also referred to an analogous observation 

 on the non-parasitic habits of Eurytoma Jlavipes, Forst., by an unknown Entomo- 

 logist in the Proc. Ent. Soc. London, ser. 3, ii, p. 141. — H. Wetenbekgh, Cordova, 

 Argentine Eepublic : August 22nd, 1882. 



[Dr. Weyenbergh's article maintains that Eurytoma is non-parasitic. He will 



