THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 109 



their metamorphoses. In this we were guided by the form 

 of the ^perfect insect, and accordingly placed before them 

 grains of maize, pieces of flannel and woollen cloth, shreds 

 of partially decayed paper, some fungus and lichen, and 

 other materials known to be the food of caterpillars belong- 

 ing to the genus 'Tinea' and neighbouring genera. Unfor- 

 tunately they turned with distaste from all these supplies, 

 with the exception of the cloth and flannel, and even to 

 these they attached themselves with reluctance. We, how- 

 ever, persevered, and put them in a dark and roomy box, 

 aware of the marked dislike to light of larvee possessing de- 

 predatory habits, and left them undisturbed for a week, at 

 the end of which we were pleased to find that small silken 

 tunnels or tubes had been constructed on the surface of the 

 brown cloth, and that the denuded appearance of several 

 places exhibited signs of their ravages. From this cloth they 

 shortly after transferred themselves to the flannel, where they 

 fabricated small portable cases, composed of two separate 

 pieces, of an irregular oval form, joined at the sides, but 

 leaving apertures at each end ; and being thus comfortably 

 housed, we entertained sanguine hopes of rearing them. 

 These hopes, however, were not to be realised, for towards 

 the end of November (nearly two months from their birth) 

 they ceased to thrive, and eventually all perished." — F. 34. 



No less interesting is Mr. Krefft's paper on the metamor- 

 phosis of a dipteron, — a paper, however, to which I should 

 have thought a more descriptive title might have been found : 

 it records the interesting fact of the existence of an oestri- 

 deous parasite on frogs, at least the figures of larva and pupa 

 lead me to the conclusion that the fly must be related to our 

 OEstridae : here is the paper itself: — 



" In the course of my inqtiiries into the Batrachian Fauna 

 of Australia, I have frequently captured frogs infested with a 

 number of parasites, seeming to be larvse of dipterous in- 

 sects ; they are generally found between the skin and flesh, 

 just behind the tympanum, but in cases where from three to 

 four exist upon a single individual they reach as far back as 

 the anus ; these larvse may be taken for glands at first sight, 

 but closer examination soon reveals a small opening, and a 

 gentle pressure will quickly exhume the yellow parasite. In 

 all cases where the larva was forcibly ejected, the death of 



