NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 241 



spined median segment, with its elongated coflfin-shaped areola, 

 confluent with the lateral areae at the base ; by the long pro- 

 jecting ovipositor ; and by the smooth impunctate abdomen, 

 with its small gastrocceli. 



(To be continued.) 



NOTES AND OBSEKVATIONS. 



Parasites on Larv.e of Macrothylacia rubi. — On the 17th of July 

 I found the young larvae of Macrothylacia [Bombyx) rubi very plentiful 

 on the South Downs, resting at full length on the stems of grass. On 

 several of those I took home I noticed what I imagined to be eggs of 

 some parasitic fly, the kind one often finds on larvae. Having many 

 times successfully reared the perfect insect from larvs from which I 

 had removed such eggs, I started on these and destroyed them with a 

 pair of pliers. One or two of these caterpillars had four or five 

 attached to them, favourite spots being at the side of the head and on 

 the base of the claspers. Just as I was dealing with the last it fell off 

 the larva, and as I was about to squash it as it lay at the bottom of 

 the box, I was surprised to see it commence crawling. I at once cap- 

 tured it and examined it through a microscope, using a low power, and 

 found it to be, I believe, the larva of a mite. The following is a de- 

 scription : — Colour light reddish brown. Body oval, a shade broader 

 posteriorly, very shiny and sparsely covered with straight black bristles, 

 coarse and blunt. Legs six. in number, and, like the body, sparsely 

 covered with black bristles, but much finer and shorter. In front and 

 behind each of the front legs is a rather long curved bristle, unlike 

 the others, as it gets finer towards the end. Eostrum and palpi very 

 prominent, attached to the body by a slender and very flexible neck. 

 Eostrum long, pointed, and, I think, slightly curved downwards. 

 Palpi not so long. On the 5th of this month I again went to the 

 downs, took a dozen more larvae, and found them all quite free from 

 these little crawlers. I have never found larvae attacked in this way 

 before, and would like to know whether it is a common occurrence. — 

 J. T. Bird ; The Lodge, Cowfold, Sussex, Aug. 17th, 1903. 



Smerinthus populi Double-brooded, — From about one hundred 

 ova of S. populi, which started to hatch about May 28th, I obtained 

 about fifty larvje. These commenced to pupate on June 23rd, and by 

 June 30th all had gone down. I did not disturb the pupae, but on 

 Aug. 12th utilised the cage containing them for some \&v\se of S. ocel- 

 latiis. I looked in the cage to-day (Aug. 14th) to see if the S. ocellatus 

 larvas required fresh food, and observed, just by the head of one of the 

 larvae, about a dozen pale green eggs on the willow twig. Closer 

 examination disclosed thirteen S. populi, five males and eight females, 

 the males being all dead, and most of the females busily engaged ovi- 

 positing. The larvffi from which these imagines resulted were reared 

 under conditions in no way tending to produce this remarkable result ; 



ENTOM. — SEPTEMBER, 1903. U 



