535 



fall unless the cultivator provides the tree with receptacles in which 

 B. psenes is ready to emerge. On the other hand, insects from the 

 first fruit-formations often lack the mature receptacles of the following 

 flowering. The perpetuation of the species is ensured by the females 

 that emerge from the later fruit-formations. 



The males are the first to emerge and they begin to seek galls contain- 

 ing females. A hole is cut in such a gall and mating takes place. Several 

 females are visited in succession. The usual proportion of males to 

 females is 10-15 per cent. After exhausting its fecundatory power the 

 male dies, usually without having ever emerged from the receptacle, 

 though a few specimens emerge through the ostiole of the fruit as the 

 females do. The females enlarge the hole made by the male in the 

 gall and then emerge from the receptacle. They live for 4-5 days only. 

 They always turn towards the light, and during the author's experiments 

 it was necessary to keep them in semi-darkness or to illuminate the 

 distal ends of the figs in order to induce them to enter the receptacle. 

 In her efforts to penetrate through the ostiole the female may lose her 

 antennae and wings, the debris of which are a positive sign of penetra- 

 tion. The author has never observed more than 4 females in a given 

 inflorescence, but the number may very well depend on the size of the 

 receptacle and on the number of inflorescences on a given tree or in a 

 given locality. On reaching the cavity the female lays a number of 

 eggs, beheved not to exceed 400, and then dies. In some receptacles 

 there is no trace of the body or bodies, though wing debris are seen, 

 and in others the number of eggs greatly exceeds those attributable 

 to the one individual found dead. Apparently some females are able 

 to leave the receptacle after oviposition, but this important point 

 requires study. The egg-stage lasts 4-6 days. The resulting first- 

 generation females oviposit in the second series of receptacles (those 

 that develop in summer and mature at the end of summer or in autumn), 

 thus producing the second generation. These females are used by 

 cultivators for the edible figs that require polHnation ; on emerging 

 from the Caprifico they are covered with pollen from which they are 

 unable completely to cleanse themselves. The larvae of the second 

 generation attain maturity in mid- August, and by mid-September the 

 adults are ovipositing in the third series of receptacles. The eggs 

 begin to hatch at the end of September. Hibernation takes place in the 

 larval stage, the first pupae — and occasionally some adult males — 

 appearing in mid-February. The hibernating third generation of 

 B. psenes thus requires about 7 months for development. A fourth 

 generation has not hitherto been observed in Italy, but its occurrence 

 may be possible, provided exceptionally favourable conditions are 

 present. A fist of 307 references is appended to this paper. 



DA Costa Lima (A.). Nota sobre o Microlepidoptero, Pyroderces rileyi, 

 Wlsm. [A Note on the Microlepidopteron, P. rileyi, Wlsm.] — 

 Arch. Escola Sup. Agric. e Med. Vet., Nictheroy {Rio de Janeiro), 

 ii, no. 1-2, 1918, pp. 75-77. [Received 19th October 1920.] 



The author expresses the opinion that Pyroderces simplex, Wlsm., 

 is not a distinct species from P. rileyi, Wlsm., and gives his reasons. 

 The latter name has priority. 



