68 SPOLIA ZEYLANTCA. 



nourishment that should go to the buildins; up of the tissues of 

 the ho6t, until eventually the latter dies of inanition. This 

 collapse seldom occurs until the contained parasite (or parasites) 

 is ready to undergo transformation into the pupal state. In the 

 Ichneumonidae proper the full-grown larva usually spins a 

 compact cocoon either within the carcass of its victim or by the 

 side of it. 



The early stages of these parasites are not invariably passed 

 within the body of the host. Three distinct conditions have 

 been noticed : — 



(1) Both egg and larva may be interior. 



(2) The egg may be exterior and the larva interior. 



(3) Egg and larva may both be completely exterior. 



This last condition may be observed in the case of the 

 parasite of one of our principal tea pests, the " Tea Tortrix" 

 {Capua coffearia, Niet.) The egg of this useful little parasite is 

 attached to the back of the caterpillar, just behind the head. 

 The young grub fixes itself in the same position and completes 

 its growth, fully exposed, except for the leafy shelter constructed 

 by the host. It is noticeable that even those species that attach 

 their eggs to the surface of the caterpillars are still provided with 

 a well-developed piercing ovipositor. With the parasite of the 

 Tortrix this weapon is employed in piercing the leafy covering 

 which conceals the victim. It is remarkable, also, that the 

 periodical moulting of the caterpillar does not dislodge the 

 parasite. 



Besides true insects, spiders are subject to the attacks of 

 Ichneumon flies. 



E. E. G. 

 PIEST PAPER. 



Our knowledge of the Hymenoptera of Ceylon, and more parti- 

 cularly of the plant-feeding and parasitic species, is very limited. 

 There is a paper by the Russian Entomologist V. Motsulsky 

 in the Bull, de la Soc. Imp. des Xatur. de Moscow, XXXVI., 

 1863, wherein sixty-one parasitic species are described, includ- 

 ing many new genera. The descriptions, however, leave much 

 to be desired, while it is doubtful if many of the species have 

 been referred to their proper genera. Motsulsky, for example, 

 describes two species of Microgaster, but all the species I have 

 seen, or have been described by recent writers, belong, not to 

 Microgaster, but to the allied genus Apanteles. Consequently one 

 is in doubt if the species described by Motsulsky belong to 

 Microgaster as now limited, or to Apanteles, or even to some new 

 genus ; as is probably the case with the species I have in this 



