308 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



Mr. Ingpen has communicated to me a larva {^fig- 35. 14.) found by 

 him in damp rotten wood at Coomb Wood, which so nearly resembles 

 the description of the larvae of Phloiotrya rufipes, that I am induced 

 to regard it as that of Melandrya caraboides, which I have often taken 

 there. It will be seen that it very closely approaches the larva; of 

 some of the Helopidaj. Mr. Shuckard has recorded a curious cir- 

 cumstance respecting this insect, which would appear to indicate pa- 

 rasitic habits, stating that he had taken it repeatedly thrusting its 

 abdomen into the cell of Chelostoma maxillosa, with the ovipositor ex- 

 serted to the utmost length. I should suppose, however, that Mr. 

 Shuckard merely observed the insect on the outside of the paling in 

 which the burrows of the Chelostoma were made, without having ac- 

 tually observed the act of oviposition in the cell of this bee, and 

 should rather presume that the female had merely taken advantage of 

 the hole thus made to introduce its eggs into the rotten wood. 



From the descrij)tion given by Gyllenhall of the larva of Calopus 

 serraticornis, I am induced to place it in this family rather than in 

 the CEdemeridae, with which it has been associated. It is as follows : 

 " Larva pollicaris hexapoda alba glabra, anterius latior, capite parvo 

 brunneo incisuris undecim profundis, praeter caput et caudam, quorum 

 primum seu thoracis majus laeve, reliqua margine antico punctata ; 

 supra caudam cornicula duo recurva, apice nigra." ( Gyll. Nov. Act., 

 Upsal, vol. 6., and Ins. Suec. ii. p. 513.) 



I am indebted to J. A. Power, Esq., of Clare Hall, Cambridge, 

 for the larvae i^fig. 35. 23.) and pupae {fig. 35. 25.) of Orchesia 

 itnicans i^fig. 35. 21.), found in moist Boleti. They have also been 

 described and figured by Mr. G. R.Waterhouse in the Ent. Mag. vol. 2. 

 p. 376. The larva is of a fleshy texture, except the head (^fig. 35. '24.), 

 which is horny, and rather large, with very minute antennae ; the 

 body is subconvex and whitish ; the segments transverse, and of 

 equal size, the last alone being smaller and simple ; the legs six in 

 number, and small. It is very sluggish in its motions ; the pupa is 

 elongate, and is remarkable for having the prothoracic shield (mistaken 

 by Mr. Waterhouse for the head) dilated on each side, and covering 

 the head, with erect hairs, and for the size of the rudimental elytra, 

 which entirely cover the hind legs. In its preparatory states, 

 therefore, this insect materially recedes from the typical Melandryidte, 

 and approaches Mordella, with which it also agrees in the curious skip- 

 ping, shrimp-like motions of the imago {fig. 35. 22. hind leg) ; but 

 the structure of the mouth is much more analogous to that of 



