321 /'^ "^ \ 



Harland (S. C). Notes on Trichogramma \mnuiiim {pretiosa). — Wesy 

 Indian Bull., Barbados, xv, no. 3, 1915/«p./i68-175. [Re^pJv^ 

 26th May 1916.] \^nalWUi3>^ 



Experiments were carried out to observe the extent to which Tricho- 

 gramma rninutum, Riley, obtained from the eggs of Diatraea saccharalis, 

 is capable of parasitising other insect eggs. To induce parasitism a 

 number of eggs produced under insectary conditions, and therefore 

 unparasitised, were exposed to the attacks of T. minutum. Oviposition 

 took place readily in the eggs of Chloridea {Heliothis) obsoleta, F. (cotton 

 boll worm), 16 parasites emerging from six eggs in nine days after 

 o\'iposition. Under field conditions about 40 per cent, of the eggs of 

 C. obsoleta were parasitised by T. minutmn, by a Chalcid indistinguish- 

 able from T. minutum and by an unidentified Hymenopteron. In the 

 case of Laphygma frugiperda, S. and A. (corn worm), oviposition by 

 T. minutum was observed to take place in eggs from which the hairy 

 covering was more or less absent. An average of three parasites per 

 egg was obtained. Under certain conditions, therefore, T. minutum 

 can parasitise the eggs of L.frugiperdu, though in nature the protection 

 afforded by the hairy covering renders the parasitism almost negligible. 

 Egg-laying was also found to take place in the eggs of Utethesia ornatrix 

 (pink underwing moth), Eudamus proteus, L. (bean leaf-roller), Calpodes 

 ethlius, Cram, (arrowroot worm), and an unidentified cutworm. 

 Parasites other than T. minuium were reared from the eggs of the 

 above-mentioned insects collected in the field. Attempts to induce 

 oviposition on the part of these parasites in eggs of another insect met 

 with negative results. T. minutum was in every case a subsidiary 

 parasite, since the number obtained in the field was always less than 

 that of other egg-parasites of the same host. 



Two methods are suggested for the control of Diatraea saccharalis :■ — 

 (1) To breed T. minutum in capti\aty and liberate this species at 

 intervals ; (2) to increase the number of hosts of T. minutum; preferably 

 on the windward side of canefields. Utethesia ornatrix, which lays 

 large clusters of eggs and feeds on the leguminous weed Crotalaria, 

 should prove suitable for increasing the numbers of T. minutum. 

 The practice of growing Crotalaria retusa in or near cane-fields should 

 result in the control of D. saccharalis to a certain degree and also of 

 C. obsoleta and the cotton worm [Anomis argillacea.] M. ornatrix 

 however is also parasitised by a H}Tnenopteron, which is more abundant 

 than T. minutum and hinders the oviposition of the latter, and by a 

 Braconid, which attacks the larva, and reduces the number of moths 

 available for egg-laj-ing. 



Payne (Olga G. M.). On the Life-History and Structure of Telephorus 

 lituratus. Fallen. — Jl. Zool. Research, London, i, no. 1, April 1916, 

 pp. 4-32, 18 figs., 2 plates. 



Larvae of the Malacoderm beetle, Telephorus lituratus. Fall., were 

 found near Manchester among and below the roots of grass at a depth of 

 about 2 inches and near the roots of elder and rhododendron. The first 

 larvae were obtained in October and other specimens at intervals until 

 the following June. Pupae were observed on 12th May and the first 

 adult on 1st June. Eggs were deposited on 25th June by adults 



(C285) WtPl/106. J,500. 8.16. B.&F.Ltd. G.11/3. A 



