NOTES ON SPH03RIA LARVARUM. 



129 



from several authors in support of his conclusions. The late 

 Mr. A. H. Scott, author of ' Australian Lepidoptera and their 

 Transformations,' is thus quoted by Olliff:— "We think it 

 probable that the stems and trunks of Metrosideros furnish 

 sustenance for the larvae of the Charagia virescens ; but these 

 live and undergo their metamorphoses within the wood, effectually 

 protected against injury from this particular fungus ; and it is 

 equally probable that the external portions of the finer roots of 

 the same or neighbouring plants afford nutriment to the larvae 

 of such genera as pass their lives wholly in the earth, a state of 

 existence which would render them exposed to the attacks of the 

 Sphceria (Cordyceps):' Scott also stated that the host of S. 

 larvarum has been incorrectly identified with the larvae of 

 Charagia by Hooker, Dieffenbach, Doubleday, and Taylor. To 

 these conclusions Mr. Olliff added :— " In my opinion we have in 

 these remarks the truth of the matter, and I am inclined to go 

 even further, and to assert that all the larger fungi of the genus 

 Cordyceps live upon, and at the expense of, subterranean larvae 

 and pupae. In support of this assertion I would point to the 

 fact that all the bulky species of which the hosts are definitely 

 known have been found on root-feeding insects. As instances, I 

 need only cite the Dynastidae, Melolonthidae, Elateridae, and 

 Lucanidae amongst the beetles, Cicada amongst the Homoptera, 

 and Pielus and Trictena amongst the moths. In all these cases 

 the hosts are subterranean, and it follows that it is idle to speak 

 of any connection between these parasitic fungi and the larvae of 

 wood-boring or foliage- eating and free living insects. The best 

 known and the most abundant species are found on the early 

 stages — larvae and pupae — of Lepidoderma, Lepidiota, Rhysso- 

 notus, Cicada, Pielus, and Trictena, all of which live under- 

 ground at the roots of plants. It is obvious," says our author, 

 "that it would be impossible for large and highly-developed 

 fungi, such as Cordyceps, which are sometimes of large dimen- 

 sions, and which are frequently found growing at right angles to 

 the axis of the body of their host, to grow within the narrow 

 limits of the burrows made by these larvae within their food- 

 plants." These remarks also embody the opinions of a number 

 of eminent entomologists. 



Mr. Howes was careful to ascertain that these large larvae 

 with partially developed S. larvarum attached were found in situ, 

 and were carefully extracted from the buried logs of Metrosideros 

 lucula. Notwithstanding that they have been entombed for 

 centuries, the fact appears incontrovertible that the parasitic 

 Sphceria attacks and partially develops on the larvae of Charagia 

 within their burrows in the rata timber. There is no lepi- 

 dopterous or other larvae known to attain the size of those of 

 Charagia virescens in New Zealand. The larvae of the large 

 longicorn beetle (Prionoplus reticularis) burrows in several tim- 



