166 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Britannica,' vol. ii. p. 228. The larvae which produce this 

 pretty insect are very injmious to corn, more particularly 

 rye. The fly lays its egg on the young stems of the rye, 

 and when it is hatched the larva gnaws its way into the 

 interior, just below the first division or septum, which 

 operation has the effect of immediately stopping the growth 

 of the rye; so that the stem, instead of rising to a height of 

 several feet, is dwarfed for ever at three or four inches, 

 presenting a very singular appearance. Wheat and barley 

 are subject also to this pest, or very similar ones of the 

 genera Oscinis and Chlorops. — Echvard Newman.] 



A Railway Train Impeded by Locusts. — In Messrs. Kirby 

 and Spence's ' Introduction to Entomology,' many remarkable 

 records of the direct injuries of insects are to be found; 

 many equally astonishing have come to my knowledge since 

 the publication of the Introduction. The late Sir John 

 Hearsey used to relate, with great gusto and humour, the 

 dispersal of a troop of cavalry, when on march, under his 

 command in India. Sir John had entrusted to the care of a 

 mounted subaltern a swarm of honey-bees in a box-hive, 

 when removing to a distant military station : the bee was 

 an Indian species. Apis dorsata, the largest known, and 

 also the most pugnacious. The man had the misfortune 

 to drop the hive, which split open : out swarmed the infuriated 

 host, which immediately vented their rage on the troopers, 

 who quickly broke rank and galloped off in all directions, 

 pursued by the maddened honey-bees, who stung man and 

 horse indiscriminately. I write, however, on this occasion, 

 to draw attention to a telegram that lately appeared in several 

 of the London papers, dated — "Algiers, May 20th, 1874. A 

 train arrived here to-day from Oran, six hours behind time : 

 the rails were covered with a thick layer of grasshoppers." 

 We cannot, I think, be at a loss to understand this, and fully 

 comprehend the nature of the obstruction to the train : the 

 wheels of the carriages, crushing a thick layer of locusts, 

 would be much the same as if passing through a layer of fatty 

 matter, which would consequently completely prevent the 

 bite of the metals. This appears to me a circumstance 

 worthy of being recorded in an entomological journal. — 

 Frederick Smith ; 27, Piichmond Crescent, Islington. 



A Note on Aphides. — At the beginning of the last week of 



