336 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



frequently to be found along roads and pathways at early morn- 

 ing, not because it has chosen such places for its perambulations, 

 but having fallen there during the night it has been vainly trying 

 to mount again in the air, which is matter of difficulty, even when 

 it has mounted a twig. This beetle, though rapid in flight, is yet 

 singularly awkward, hence soon thrown to the ground b}^ any 

 obstacle, and on tei'rd firmd its movements by day are very slow ; 

 possibly, in some cases, this arises from exhaustion, caused 

 by the number of Acari that are adhering to the abdomen 

 and legs. It seems to be Gamasus marg'matus that chiefly 

 plagues the " dor," or, as certain country folks name it, the 

 " lousy watchman ; " from this very circumstance, not " drows}'," 

 I think, as it is oddly stated in some books. I have never 

 discovered these Acari upon the beetle in any stage but their 

 adult one, so that their early life is passed elsewhere. The 

 author of the valuable monograph of the British Aptera does not 

 elucidate this portion of their history for us ; but it is not likely 

 they are vegetarians even when young.— J. R. S. Clifford ; 

 Gravesend, October 3, 1885. 



Apanteles glomeratus, L. — Apanteles glomeratus, the para- 

 site of Pieris brassicce, is common enough ; but the following 

 notes, as to the period of its oviposition in its host and the 

 statistics as to its numbers, may interest some entomologists, as 

 they have interested me. On July 14th I sent a friend a batch 

 of young larvae of Pieris brassica, some moulting for the first 

 time, others through the moult two or three days. On July 29th 

 I received a letter from him saying that nearly the whole of them 

 had produced parasites (Apanteles glomeratus) ; this rather sur- 

 prised me, seeing that the larvae were so young when taken. On 

 September 2nd I was passing the same garden, and observed a 

 batch of forty caterpillars close together, about to change their 

 skins for the first time. I thought this was a good opportunity to 

 verify my friend's statement, consequently the cabbage-leaf with 

 the young larvae was duly transferred to my breeding-cage; and 

 on the 23rd following I saw that thirty of them had produced 

 parasites {A. glomeratus), and ten had changed to pupae. Thus I 

 was able to confirm his remarks, and am exceedingly glad to have 

 done so, for I must say I was at first ratlier sceptical over the 

 matter. The parasites averaged about forty-five to each larva. 

 To-day I found in the garden a larva with ninety-nine cocoons of 



