120 Mr. F. P. Dodd's Notes upon some remarkable 



the whole of the material was collected by Mr. Dodd at 

 Townsville, North Queensland. — E. B. PoULTON.] 



Nos. 1 and 2 are from the caterpillars of Delias argen- 

 tJwna, F. The larvce of the larger species (No. 1) push 

 their way through the sides of their host, and at once 

 commence to construct their cocoons in a mass, the cater- 

 pillar dying and shrivelling up very quickly. The flies 

 emerge through the end of the cocoon by forcing open the 

 lid. The eggs of the smaller species are, I suppose, 

 dejDosited upon the larvae of the larger ere tliey are secure 

 in the cocoons : they do not push open the lid, but gnaw 

 holes to escape. 



[Colonel C. T. Bingham has kindly described the 

 Braconid parasite (No. 1) as A2>anielcs dcliadis (Appendix, 

 p. 125); the Chalcidid hyperparasite (No. 2) as Microterys 

 coirulcus (Appendix, p. 127). Four Bracons and three 

 Chalcids bear the date Jan. 2, 1903 ; seven Chalcids, Jan. 

 6, 1908 ; and nine Chalcids Jan. 9, 1903.] 



No. 3.^ — -From Chcerocaiirpa oldenlandim, F. [T/uTctra 

 oldenlandi/e firmata (Walk.), Rothschild and Jordan, Rev. 

 Spiling., Nov. Zool., ix, suppl., p. 783.] In this (and two 

 following species) only a single parasite attacks the cater- 

 pillar. The larva emerges through the side of its victim, 

 and spins a cocoon, like a full grain of wheat, crosswise 

 upon the back, just in front of the horn. The caterpillar 

 never moves from one spot, and lingers until some time 

 after the parasite has liown. The caterpillar, which is 

 exhibited in formalin, did not die until forty-eight hours 

 after the emergence of the fly, and I found it, with the 

 cocoon seemingly finished, seven days before the appearance 

 of the Hymenopterous insect. 



[Col. Bingham has described this Braconid parasite as 

 Microgaster hasalis (Appendix, p. 125). The single speci- 

 men with its oval cocoon, from which a terminal lid has 

 been pushed off, bears the date Feb. 11, 1908.] 



No. 4. — Host Notodonta \^Cerura^^ cycnoptera, Lower. 

 The larva of this insect comes through the side or back of 

 the caterpillar : it rears itself nearly upright and is almost 

 entirely outside the aperture when it constructs the cocoon, 

 which leans backwards at an angle of about forty-five 

 degrees. Some twenty or twenty-four hours after, when 

 the cocoon appears to be complete, the larva contrives to 

 move its case from the host's back to the leaf. Wondering 

 how this transference could be effected, I examined the 



