689 



I luiNc had whole lots of ('ii'i>s of Bntclins ohicchis dcsl roved hy 

 it. It is iiol possible to jiidae jis vel how imudi infineiice it 

 iiiis u])on the diffei-eiit species uiid( r uiilurnl eoiidilions hut 

 tlier(> can he no doid)t ihat it is a eoiisiderahle faetoi- in all the 

 species. I*ersons liaudlini;' the ])ods of I'rosopis jiili fiord and 

 of eoninion beans arc^ frecpiently affected h_v a I'ash in-odnoed 

 l)y tlie vonnii' mites attachinii' themselves to the human skin. 

 The mites affect the weevils more g'enerallv in some seeds 

 than in others, aecordin<>' to whether the texture of the seed or 

 its covering ])ermits ready entrance or not. Thns all my exper- 

 iments with the chick ])ea wcn-e seriously affected and in many 

 cases not an adnlt whs able to emerge on account of its attacks. 

 The niesqnite weevil is particularly subject to its attacks on 

 account of its method of forming the })upal cell. Any intro- 

 <luctions of the larval parasites of Bnichidae would need to be 

 carried on with particular care to reduce the attacks of this 

 mite upon them. 



0])servations and lieflections on the Oviposition of Bnirliidae 

 and Some Other Insects. 



Early in Xovend)er of 1017 while on tlie lookout for 

 material Avhich would throw light on the hal)its of Bi-nclnis 

 pi-uiniiiKS!. a tree of opiuma { PitJiccoIobl mii (JiiJcr) was encoun- 

 tered at Waikiki, beneath which were lying on the ground con- 

 siderable numbers of its seeds which Avere found on examina- 

 tion to have eggs of Caryohorus rjoiiaf/ra deposited on them, 

 mostly on the side lying next to the ground. In all about a 

 hundred seeds bearing eggs were found beneath this tree and 

 thirty-five or forty of them were carefully examined and in no 

 case were larvae found in a living condition within the seed 

 nor were there any traces of successful breeding in them. In 

 most cases the larvae had been able to penetrate through the 

 seed coat into the cotyledon and had perished there as the result 

 of their first meal u])on its substance. Beneath the same tree 

 were found scattered a number of the seeds of a TAvlstonia 

 ])alm and on several of these round seeds, also utterly unfit for 



