128 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



their pupa-cases very early in the year, long before the spring 

 commenced : three specimens made their appearance with him 

 on January 9th, then single individuals came, with intervals of 

 two or three days between each, until the beginning of April, 

 when (on the 10th) thirteen emerged in one day. With myself I 

 found a single female (in the wide-mouthed bottle in which I had 

 placed some of the maggots in the previous June, with some 

 baked earth at the bottom) on February 35th (1<S88), a second 

 appeared on March 2nd, a third on March 4th, and another both 

 on the 5th and 9th. All these were females, but two males came 

 by themselves on March 12th. With Mr. Inchbald both sexes 

 seem to have arrived together, or nearly so, the first which 

 appeared being, I believe, a male, which he kindly sent to me, 

 and with which I was much pleased, as I had not then seen that 

 sex. It was truly a beautiful little creature. His success in 

 rearing siDCcimens of the pear-midge this year has been wonderful, 

 for he wrote me word on March 19th that he had bred between 

 200 and 300. 



As with Dr. Riley in America so in England, some small 

 parasites have appeared together with the gall-gnats. I sent two 

 of them to Mr. E. A. Fitch, who said that they were both female 

 Platygastridse, general parasites on the Cecidomyiidse, very 

 numerous in species, and difficult to name. Most probably those 

 bred by Dr. Riley and myself are identical. 



It may seem a work of supererogation to describe the Diplosis 

 pyrivora again after Dr. Riley's full and accurate diagnosis, but 

 as his account is published in a volume of American State 

 Reports, not generally accessible either in England or on the 

 Continent, I think it better to append a short description of the 

 characteristic features of the insect, premising that my definition 

 will be taken from the recent insect itself, and not copied from 

 that of Dr. Riley. 



Diplosis pyrivora, Riley. 

 Cecidomyia nigra ?, Meig. 



pyricola ?, Nordl. 



Nigro-cinerea, crinibus pallidis hirsuta. Thorax antice vittis 

 tribus latis nigris notatus, et oidinibus pilorum subflavidorum 

 lineatus. Antennae in ^ moniliformes 2G- (2 + 24) articulatse, 

 in ? 14- (2+12) articulatsB, articulo 3tio elongato. Abdomen 



