THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 91 



looking and long-bodied female, on the stems of Arnndo 

 Pliragmites (reed) ; they are long, cylindrical, of a pale yellow 

 colour, and adhere very tightly to the stem of the reed. As 

 soon as the young larva emerges it begins to gnaw its way 

 through the green leafy sheatli, and also through the hard 

 woody covering of the stem, reaching the interior by a punc- 

 ture scarcely larger than that which might be made by an 

 entomological pin, and only distinguishable on the exterior 

 by the eye of an expert, who may detect a few minute grains 

 of excrement around the mouth of the puncture. When once 

 within the stem it works out of siglit, making a complete hollow 

 of the interior. The specimens kindly placed at my disposal 

 had the head upwards, but I will not venture an opinion as 

 to this being always the case : in no instance within my 

 knowledge have two larvae been found in one reed-stem : 

 when full-fed, which is during the third or fourth week of the 

 following May, the larval state having endin-ed ten months, it 

 appears closely fitted to the channel it has excavated, and is 

 then an elongate maggot, with a small, flaltish, porrecled 

 head, capable of being withdrawn and almost concealed in 

 the 2nd segment, which has on its dorsal surface a corneous 

 plate, perfectly smooth and glabrous in front, but furnished 

 behind with raised points, of which a first ti'ansverse and 

 perfectly regular series bounds the smooth portion, and a 

 second equally regular series is situated a short distance be- 

 hind the first; behind the second transverse series the points 

 are less prominent and very irregular; the body is very long, 

 attenuated towards the posterior extremity, and without warts 

 or tubercles. Colour of the head, as well as the dorsal sur- 

 face of the 2nd segment, clear bright brown, and very gla- 

 brous : the remainder of the body may be characterised as 

 cream-coloured. Before changing to a pupa it gnaws away 

 the walls of its dwelling, leaving ihem in several places with 

 scarcely the thickness of tissue paper, and, having thus pro- 

 vided itself with facility of escape, it ceases to feed, and 

 remains perfectly quiescent until the metamorphosis has 

 taken place : the pupa is long, brown and cylindrical, every 

 segment being furnished with a double vow of hook-like sca- 

 brosities (adminicula), by means of which it travels up and 

 down the interior of the reed with the most remarkable velo- 

 city. The pupa state scarcely lasts more than a fortnight, 



