1915] Britton — Macrosargus cuprarius Linn. 29 



insects in any stage. The species jiili Brues which has very simi- 

 lar characters on the pleurae and is almost identical in coloration 

 has been reared from myriapods. Perdita Malloch, which is very 

 closely allied to jidi has been reared from the larvae of a butterfly, 

 Eurymus eurytheme. Besides these two, there are several others 

 possessing the strong backwardly directed mesopleural bristle, but 

 with the exception of ciliata Zetterstedt, which I have found on 

 carrion and fungi, and halictorum Melander and Brues, which 

 has been recorded from burrows of Halictus,^ nothing is known of 

 their habits. Some of the species in Phoridoe are true parasites, 

 but in some cases they may only attack wounded larvse, though it 

 is very probable that like certain species in the Tineinse (Micro- 

 lepidoptera), and other groups, they will feed readily upon Lepi- 

 dopterous or other pupae. 



The type specimens of the species were returned to the U. S. 

 Bureau of Entomology, from which they were sent for identifi- 

 cation. 



THE PREVALENCE OF MACROSARGUS CUPARIUS 

 LINN., IN THE UNITED STATES. 



By W. E. Britton, 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Conn. 



On May 20, 1914, I received from a correspondent in Walling- 

 ford. Conn., several specimens of an unfamiliar insect, with the fol- 

 lowing accompanying note: — 



Under separate cover, I am sending you some grubs I found on my strawberry 

 plants. They were close to the crown of the plant at the base of the dry leaves. 

 Will you please tell me what they are, what harm they do, and how to get rid of 

 them? 



The specimens in question might be taken for either larvae or 

 pupae. They were mouse-gray in color, about 10 mm. long, nearly 

 3 mm. broad, and less than 2 mm. thick. The anal extremity was 

 thin and broadly rounded as seen from above : from it toward the 

 head the sides were nearly parallel for about three-fourths of its 

 length; then it tapered to a narrow elongated head with a liemis- 



I Biological Bull. V, 1902, p. 14. 



