50 



rSVLJlE. 



[M;iy— June iSS,^. 



position motionless for the space of two- 

 anil-a-lialf minutes, during which time 

 an egg, doubtless, was inserted, although 

 the pocket lens with which the obsen-a- 

 tion was made did not disclose the fact. 

 The motion of her antennae then recom- 

 menced, and I expected to see the 

 operation just w^itnessed repeated upon 

 another egg ; but, to my surprise, she 

 merely changed position — again applied 

 the tip of her abdomen to a different 

 part of the same egg, and remained 

 at rest for about the same space of time 

 as before. Three times I witnessed this 

 performance, and it is therefore pro- 

 bable that three parasitic eggs were 

 placed within the one of tiie currant- 

 fly. Unfortunately an interruption ])re- 

 vented me from noticing if the remain- 

 ing currant-fly eggs were similarly 

 parasitized, and the number of eggs in- 

 troduced in each ; and much to my 

 regret, the eggs were accidentally de- 

 stroyed before my observations could be 

 made upon their transmutation into 

 parasitic pupae. The pupa cases are 

 dark brown, disclosing some of the 

 outlines of the contained pupae, some- 

 what flattened, broader tiian the original 

 egg, but of about its length. The in- 

 sect is apparently one of the chalcididac, 

 having a broad head, long and elbowed 

 antennae, ovoid anterior wings, nearly 

 veinless, bcautifuUv iridescent, deli- 

 catelv fringed and haired ; the posterior 

 wings are almost linear ; the abdomen is 

 short, not reaching the tips of the wings. 

 This year (1868) is probably the 

 first appearance of tlie parasite at 

 Scholiarie. as I i'<iulcl only discoviT about 



a dozen individuals. Its progress seems 

 to be from west to east, corresponding 

 with that of the ciurant-worm. 



The rediscovery of the parasite tin- 

 present year (18S3) was made in my 

 garden at Albany, upon a solitary cur- 

 rant bush growing there. The parasitized 

 eggs were enclosed in a bottle, and in a 

 few da\s the insects emerged. Tiiat I 

 might multiplv and aid in the distribu- 

 tion of an insect which had already 

 shown its capabilitv for usefulness. I 

 visited another garden in the city to 

 obtain eggs of the currant-fly for para- 

 sitization by my confined individuals. 

 To mv suiprise, the parasite was here 

 found in strong force, for in the ex- 

 amination of a long row of currant 

 bushes containing many eggs, I could 

 not find a single egg-bearing leaf which 

 had not been visited, and the destruc- 

 tion of the eggs ensured. A large num- 

 ber of leaves were collected, each 

 bearing perhaps from forty to fifty 

 parasitized eggs. Reserving a few of 

 these for stud}' and for propagation, the 

 remainder were made up in small par- 

 cels of about a half-dozen each, and 

 mailed to entomological friends in vari- 

 ous parts of the United States and 

 Canada, with the request that they be 

 pinned upon currant-bushes among the 

 leaves where the currant-fly eggs were 

 to be found. The introiluction of para- 

 sites in this manner into localities where 

 thev had not previously occurred, has 

 been shown to be practicable ; and in 

 consideration of the great importance of 

 parasitic aid in tiu' destruction ol our 



