196 



VAN Emelen (A.). Combate aos Piolhos das Abelhas. [Measures 

 against Braida cocca.\ — Chacaras e Quiniaes, S. Paulo, xxiii, 

 no. 1, 15th January 1921, p. 55, 1 fig. 



If Braula caeca is present in large numbers in a bee-hive the best 

 method of chiving it away consists in placing a lump of naphthaline 

 at each of the fo\u- corners. This will have the desired effect in one or 

 two weeks, without injuring the bees. Naphthaline in the form of 

 powder must not be used, as the bees are then able to remove it. 

 Camphor is said to possess the same repellent property, but in a more 

 marked degree. 



PiCTET ( — ). Observations biologiques sur Psilura monacha. — Mitt. 

 Schweiz. Ent. Ges., Berne, xiii, no. 2, December 1920, pp. 63-64, 

 [Received 16th February 1921.] 



In 1920 the oviposition of Liparis {Psilura) monacha (nun moth) 

 occurred in June. The eggs aestivate and then hibernate. In the open 

 they hatch in March at a minimum temperature of 8° C. (46° F.). 

 The caterpillars are polyphagous, and in captivity may be fed on most 

 conifers and many deciduous trees and shrubs. Those fed on oak 

 develop quicker than those on larch, the respective times being 35 and 

 41 days. 



Schneider-Orelli (0.). Beitrage zur Biologie des pilzziichtenden 

 Kafers, Hylecoetus derniesioides. [Contributions to the Biology 

 of the Fungus-tending Beetle, H. dermestoides.] — Mitt. Sclnveiz. 

 Ent. Ges., Berne, xiii, no. 2, December 1920, pp. 64-67. [Received 

 16th February 1921.] 



In Switzerland the Lymexylonidae are represented by tw-o species, 

 Hylecoetus dermestoides, L., and Lymexylon navale, L. . The larvae 

 of the former bore in the sapwood of beech stumps, and are occa- 

 sionally found in the standing trees ; L. navale prefers o'ak. 



Recent researches have shown that the forked caudal appendage 

 of the larva of H. dermestoides is a tool for removing the debris in the 

 gallery, the sides of which are covered with a fungus on which the 

 larva feeds. The larva was formerly believed to feed exclusively 

 on the bored wood or on bark-beetles in the mine. 

 I The author has been able to study the symbiosis between the larva* 

 and the fungus during the hibernation period, having received in 

 November a piece of beech trunk containing about -20 larvae. No 

 living fungus cells were found in the larvae during the winter, but the 

 intestines of two individuals contained fragments of wood and of 

 shrivelled fungus. A microscopical examination of the mines revealed 

 only a few isolated cells along the sides until the portions near the 

 inner ends were reached ; these were coated with a layer of wood 

 debris and fungus mycelium. The round Ambrosia cells are similar 

 to those from the mines of Xyleborus xylographus {saxescni), but 

 measure 003 mm., or twice as much, across. The material main- 

 tains the fungus during the winter, and as the mines were otherwise 

 free from wood debris, the layer would appear to be prepared by the 

 larvae. 



