204 i February, 



" Pour completer l'histoire du Dorthesia Delavauxii, j'en donne ici la figure 

 dessinee par notre habile confrere M. Theodore Descourtilz. Nous y sornmes entres 

 dans les details que ne presentent nullement ni les deux figures qui accompaguent 

 les articles consacres au Dorthesia characias dans le journal du celebre abbe Kozier, 

 ni celle publiee par Degeer (Mem., vii, pi. 44, fig. 26),* et repre'sentant le Coccus 

 farinosus, espece de Dorthesia que Modeer a recueillie sur les feuilles seches du sapin, 

 et qui, mieux observee, fera la troisieme espece du genre dont je viens de vous 

 entretenir." 



In the figures of the <$ the antennae and wings are not represented 

 of the length described ; the head has two projecting lamellae, and the 

 anterior part of the stout body only has, apparently, large tufts or 

 lamella?, the sides having four striae, which may be intended to repre- 

 sent longitudinal lamellae, for there appear to be posteriorly recurved, 

 conjoined lamellations. The head is both described and figured as 

 having a long rostrum. The ? is figured as an oval sac without any 

 imbrication, dorsal or lateral, except anteriorly, and the antennae are 

 described as having but five joints. 



Altogether this insect is an enigma, w r hich Signoret has not at- 

 tempted to solve, and although he places it as synonymous with O. 

 urticce, some only of the characters are problematically in accordance 

 with this species, while the existence of a long rostrum in the <£, 

 which is both described and figured, goes to show that the insect is no 

 Orthezia, nor any other of the Coccina. 



Orthezia dispar, Kaltenbach, was never described, so far as I can 

 ascertain; it is given thus by Kaltenbach in "Die Pflanzenfeinde," 

 p. 486 (1874) : "Dorthesia dispar ? = urticce, Brm." It is, therefore, 

 merely a superfluous name. 



In the " Natural History Transactions of Northumberland and 

 Durham," iv, 370 (1S72), the late Mr. T. J. Bold has the following 

 note : — 



" Dorthesia characias, Latr., West. Intro., vol. i, frontispiece, fig. 8, $ ; vol. ii, 

 445, fig. 118, 20, $ (D. cataphracta). The female of this curious creature was taken 

 in Cold Martin Moss, Wooler, by Mr. Hardy. I once had a bunch of the culms of 

 grass brought to me which had attached to them what might be the egg-bundles of 

 this insect ; they were silky-white, about the size and shape of a stout grain of rye, 

 and full of pink-coloured eggs." 



Now, it is erroneous to attribute characias to Latreille, and also 

 to state that cataphracta is the female of that species ; further, it is 

 very doubtful if the " egg-bundles " were produced by a Dorthesic 

 for it is not recorded by any observer that any egg-bag of t> : 



* This " fig. 26 " (erroneously printed " fig. 6 " at p. 174 ante) represe~ J 

 De Geer described and figured as a new species communicated to b'' *v 



is a widely different creature described and figured by De Gee* 

 1770), and referred by Signoret op. cit., p. 319, to Gossyw^ ===== —— 



