REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 299 



Witli the otlicr twelve parasites the egg is laid in or upon tbe larva of 

 Alctia, and the perfect insect emerges either from the larva or from the 

 pupa. Three of these sjiecies belong to the same family as the egg-para- 

 site just mentioned, namely, to the Chakididae. 



The ovate ohalcis {Chaleis ovata, Say). — This species s(>ems to be 

 one of the most abundant parasites of the cotton-worm in many parts of 

 the South. It is one of the largest of its family, measuring over one- 

 fifth of an inch (5""") in length. The glassy appearance of its abdomen 

 and its swollen hind thighs give it a characteristic look, and render it 

 impossible to mistake it for any other cotton-worm parasite. From the 

 4tli of August until the 10th of September these little fellows were con- 

 tinually issuing from the chrysalides sent for breeding purposes. There 

 may have been one brood previous, and there probably was one later, 

 the chalcid wintering in iha pupa state within the chrysalis of the 

 cotton- worm. The i^arent lly lays her eggs ux)on the backs of nearly 

 full-grown cotton-worms, probably more than one egg upon each indi- 

 vidual, although we have never observed more than one of these para- 

 sites to issue from a single worm. The young larvae feed upon the 

 worm's internal parts, choosing by preference the fatty tissue, and avoid- 

 ing all vital organs until they become full-gro\^Ti. During this time 

 the cotton-worm has probably attained its full growth and vrebbed up. 

 The parasite eats its host out pretty thoroughly before undergoing its 

 own transformations. Both of its changes from larva to pupa and from. 

 pupa to &y are undergone within the dead chrysalis of the cotton- worm, 

 and the perfect fly gnaws a round hole near the head of the chrysalis 

 to make its exit. An examination of many chrysalides from which these 

 parasites have issued shows that the hole of exit is invariably near the 

 head, and, upon breaking them open, the abdomen is found to be filled 

 with excrement of rhe larva, and the cast-off skins of larva and pupa. 

 Plate Xn, fig. 13, shows the ovate chaleis enlarged, and also a chrysalis 

 of Aletia pierced by the exit of the parasite. 



We can find no published record of the fact of the parasitism of this 

 insect upon the cotton-worm, and are not aware that it was bred prior 

 to 1878. 



Girrospilus esurus, Eiley. — Another chalcid parasite (Plate XIII, fig. 

 1), of much smaller size than the last, was reared in considerable num- 

 bers from the chrysalides of the cotton-worm during the summer of 1878. 

 It proved to be a new species of the genus Cirrospilus, and has been de- 

 scribed under the specific name esurus by Professor Eiley, in a recent 

 number of the Canadian Entomologist. 



It is a little black fly, only about six-hundredth s of an inch in length, 

 with yellow legs. From their small size, many of them can find their 

 sustenance in a single cotton- worm, and many of the adults were bred 

 from a single chrysalis. 



Unnasied chalcid Parasite. — The following passages from my 

 notes concern a parasite which, owing to a press of other affairs, has 

 not yet been worked up : 



August 27.— I found yesterday a cotton-wonn about fivc-eigliths of an inch in lengtli 

 ■which, although yet alive, was being destroyed by thi-ee gre'eu larvae which were up- 

 on it. I found the specimens about 10 a. m. Last evening I observed that the cotton- 

 worm was nearly eaten. The parasites had very short bodies, which when they moved 

 were pointed at one end. I had intended to describe the specimens this morning, but 

 I find they have spun cocoons about their bodies. 



August 28.— I found crawling over the ground a small cotton- worm infested by five 

 parasites, e-vidently of the same species as those mentioned in my note of August 27. 



August 29. — The small green parasites which I found yesterday destroyed the cotton- 

 worm, and, excepting two specimens which I put in alcohol, began to spin cocoons 

 during the night. 



