invariably on the under side ; but ^vhatever might be the number on any 

 particular dragonfly it was always divided nearly symmetrically on the two 

 sides of the insect — those much infested having a very pretty appearance, 

 from the wings looking as if spotted with blood-red. He had no doubt that 

 the Acari must have attained their position by climbing up the legs of the 

 dragonfly when at rest ; probably they did not quit it till the dragonfly died, 

 or perhaps they died \Yith it, so firmly were they fixed. He remarked that 

 the history of the Acari was involved in much obscurity, for it appeared by 

 no means certain that all those existing could ever gain access to dragon- 

 flies ; just as in the case of the bed-bug and the human-flea, where there 

 must be myriads that never have an opportunity of tasting human blood. 

 He further noticed that, at the meeting of this Society on the 1st of August, 

 1864, he exhibited a dragonfly from Montpellier similarly attacked, and it 

 was recorded as Diplax striokta (Tr. Ent. Soc, 2nd series, vol. ii., Proc. 

 xxxvi.). This was an error, the insect being D. meridionalis, which seemed 

 to be particularly aubject to attack. 

 Mr. F. Smith read the following: — 



Note on Neviatus gaUicola, Steph. 



" This is one of the commonest species of sawfly found in Europe ; it is 

 the maker of the well-known red galls so plentiful on leaves of different 

 species of willow. The galls are, as Mr. Cameron observes, in his com- 

 munication to the ' Scottish Naturalist,' somewhat local, but they are 

 extremely abundant in many situations. I have on many occasions collected 

 large quantities of leaves, more or less covered with galls, and have bred 

 many hundreds of the flies — all proving on examination to be females. 

 Mr. Cameron observes, in the paper alluded to, ' The male is quite 

 unknown to me, and this appears to have been also the case with Hartig.' 

 Last spring I collected, in the London district, a quantity of the galls, 

 placing them in a large flower-pot half-filled with garden mould. The larvoe 

 soon quitted the galls and buried themselves in the mould for the purpose 

 of undergoing their transformations. About a mouth after this the flies 

 began to issue forth, probably to the number of from five to six hundred : 

 among this number I had the satisfaction of finding two males. This sex 

 closely resembles the female, but has a narrower body, longer antennae, and 

 the tip of the abdomen is pale ; the abdomen is also narrower, and not, as 

 in the female, widened towards the apex. This season I have repeated my 

 experiment, and have obtained a single male out of several hundreds of 

 flies. 



"Mr. Cameron further observes, 'In all probability they, like Cynips 

 (lignicola) Kollari and other Cynipidse, propagate without the aid of the 

 male sex.' This observation was undoubtedly made in ignorance of tlie 

 discovery made by Mr. Walsh in 1868. In the ' American Naturalist ' for 



