24 



exact locality where he met with the Dorcatoma, we 

 determined, if possible^ to find it again. The place indicated 

 is situated between the railway and the shore, and consists 

 of a flat common joining up to the sandhills. Here the 

 most conspicuous and interesting plant to a botanist is 

 Juncus acutus, which occurs in very large tufts, the pretty 

 little Neottia spiralis, was also abundant, and, on the sand- 

 hills, Iberis amara, and other scarce plants. 



Scattered over this common we found many fungi, in all 

 stages of growth — Bov'ista nigrescens, Bovista ^3^^77166^, 

 Geaster limhatas, and another smaller species, and one or two 

 species of Boletus. We carefully examined these in search of 

 larvse, but for some time without success. At length we 

 found a few in vei y small dry specimens of Bovista plumbea. 

 We then collected what we could find in the same condition. 



In less than a week several perfect specimens of Dorca- 

 toma bovistse made their appearance, and others have since 

 continued to do so very sparingly. Sometimes the larva 

 eats its way out of the fungus and at once changes into the 

 pupa state, from which it becomes the perfect insect in 

 about ten days, but usually it forms a cocoon of spores, 

 changes to the pupa state inside the fungus, and the perfect 

 insect eats its way out. 



We found Bovista plumbea in all stages of growth, from 

 the size of a pea to the old dry specimens in which were the 

 larvae, but found no traces of larv?e in any of the fresh ones, 

 although it seems most probable that eggs had been laid 

 and hatched in some of them ; probably the larv?e were too 

 small to be easily discovered. 



The antennae of T>. bovistse are very curious, especially in 

 the male, and it would be interesting to discover the reason 

 for their singular formation, suited, no doubt, to their pecu- 

 liar mode of life. 



I have sent for exhibition a few specimens of the Dorca- 

 toma, with legs and antennae displayed, also folded together, 

 in which state they look more like seeds than insects ; a 

 specimen of the pupa case, some of the larvae, and a specimen 

 of Bovista plumbea probably containing others. 



