GLOSSINA INVESTIGATIONS IN NYASALAND. 35 



of pupae believed to have been parasitised by Mutilla glossinae and with a few new 

 pupae obtained from captive flies. Among the former there happened to be, as I 

 subsequently discovered, a pupa with a small fissure produced as the result of rough 

 handling with forceps, and on this one of the Eupelminus, after leaping hurriedlv 

 from pupa to pupa, immediately stopped. Having examined the place and then the 

 rest of the pupa critically with its antennae, it immediately inserted its ovipositor, 

 partly withdrawing it after a very short interval and re-inserting it several times with 

 its body bent first to one side and then to the other, as if depositing ova in various 

 situations within the pupa. The operation took about two minutes only, after which 

 it went on to attack other pupae. On no bred pupa was more than a very cursory 

 examination bestowed. 



Careful puncture of such a pupa with the point of a very fine pin did not lead to 

 any action by the parasite, though the injury was detected at once and examined 

 with the antennae. A new pupa rubbed with fluid from a MutiUid larva and then 

 punctured did not induce attack either. Certain of the pupae, however, definitely 

 attracted the parasite, for it frequently happened that, after having oviposited through 

 one pmicture, the insect would examine all the pupae provided, one after the other, 

 and then return to the pupa first punctured, re-inserting its ovipositor close to the 

 same spot. In two cases three punctures all close together could be seen with a high 

 power lens. 



These insects appear to be long-lived, some being still alive nearly a month after 

 emergence, and they are easy to deal with in captivity. All the nine females 

 oviposited in pupae of G. morsitans, and a large number of offspring emerged, 22 males 

 and 58 females ; in every instance except one, the cocoon of a Mutilla glossinae could 

 be seen within the Glossina puparium from which they emerged. The figures do not 

 in all probability afford a correct estimate as to the fertility of the hyper-parasite, 

 for a number of pupae which were seen to be attacked have as yet yielded nothing, 

 and specimens of Eupehnimis emerge every now and again from pupae which have 

 been in my possession for months. In the case of the specimens for which exact data 

 could be obtained the period from oviposition to emergence varied from 28 to 32 days, 

 the greatest number obtained from a single puparium being nine. 



The attack has not always been successful, for in several instances Mutillids have 

 emerged from pupae into which an Eupelminus has been seen to thrust its o"vipositor, 

 and in two cases tsetse-flies have emerged from such pupae. 



The relative size of the female offspring seems to be determined by the number 

 which have fed up in each pupa, for when only one has emerged it is invariably found 

 to be at least double the size of those which have emerged in threes and fours. 



Large Chalcids (Stomatoceras spp.). 



These parasites are by no means abundant, for five, possibly six, only emerged from 

 1,210 pupae found in the Monkey Bay vicinity between 7th April and 2nd June. The 

 pupae found in the proclaimed area did not yield any at all, and the pupae fomid 

 subsequently at Monkey Bay have only provided two. One of these on being placed 

 with morsitans pupae exhibited much excitement, and having examined the pupae 

 with its antennae, thrust into one its ovipositor, an instrument so efficient for its 

 <C250) c2 



