23i MI.SS A. L. EMBLETON ON THE ANATOMY 



wliicli the frouds of tlie fern were covered ; a small round hole was left in the dorsal 

 shield of the scale as the ouly indication of its destruction by the fly ; neither then nor 

 since have I found more than one fly emerge from one host or victim. From the small 

 white C/iioaasjns a very miuute fly hatched out in abundance ; it is apparently 

 AspkliotiphagHs citritms, Howard ("35 mm. in length), but I have not at present been 

 able to continue the work on this species. 



I soon discovered tliat the same kind of fly existed in the Lecan'mm when this 

 occurred on other ferns — viz., Asp/dluni falcatnm, Asjjleiiiiim spp., Pieris spp. (?) : 

 usually the Fter/'s was most abundantly stocked Avith the scale ; it also occurs on 

 Heaumontia. 



It is an interesting fact that the flies hatched out all through the year, though in 

 fewer numbers in the winter, but appearing in great profusion in spring and early 

 summer ; similarly the earliest larval stages were most common in late summer and 

 early autumn, but it was ahvays possible to obtain the different stages all the year I'ound. 

 This continuity of production may merely be the result of the artiflcial conditions under 

 which the insects live, for the palms and ferns which their hosts inhabit are all hot- 

 house varieties experiencing fairly constant conditions as regards food-supply, warmth, 

 and moisture, whereas in a state of nature they might be subject to seasonal changes. 

 I have never found the parasite on ferns growing out of doors, and the Lecanium itself 

 is cousidered to be exclusively a greenhouse species in Europe and America. 



The females are much more common than the males, which appear comparatively 

 rarely, and then only in small numbers ; so far, I have found them in the spring and 

 early summer. I shall subsequently mention that this disproportion of the sexes in 

 Coniys iufelix is very great, perhaps a thousand females to one male: this is the only 

 circumstance I have noticed that suggests the natural time of emergence, which, if this 

 may be relied on, is the first warm weather of spring. It was at this period, too, that 

 the females Avere produced in greatest numbers ; the sporadic appearance of other 

 examples is therefore quite probably due to the unnatural conditions of existence as 

 stated above. The male is so rare that I have had but little ojiportunity of observing it, 

 and owing to this rarity my remarks may be considered to ajiply only to the female 

 except when the other sex is specially mentioned. During the time when the flies 

 AAere so abundant, I kept them under cages with flowei-ing Genista plants and some 

 parasitized ferns. They were always most active in the direct sunshine, and in the first 

 week of March, when I had a cage of them in the sun, I observed pairing to take place 

 lor the first time ; subsequently I observed it repeatedly. 



I was not fortunate enough to observe oviposition, but I will quote an account 

 given by Mr. R. Newstead (43 a) (which he has kindly placed at my disposal) of 'i\\e 

 occurrence in an allied form — Blastothrix sericea, Dal. '• On the I7th of October, 1901, 

 after long and careful watching, I observed for the first time one of the chalcidid 

 parasites in the act of laying eggs in the body of a coccid. When first seen, the parasite 

 was running swiftly from place to place, CA'idently searching for a suitable host; its 

 antennae were bent downwards almost at right angles to the long scape forming their 

 basal half, and were moved up and down rapidly and alternately, the tips each time 



