OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS AND VERMES. 419 



ichneumon then running backward drew her prey very nimbly 

 over the walk into the standing grass. This spider would be 

 deposited in some hole where the ichneumon would lay some 

 eggs ; and as soon as the eggs were hatched, the carcase would 

 afford ready food for the maggots. 



Perhaps some eggs might be injected into the body of the 

 spider, in the act of stinging. Some ichneumons deposit their 

 eggs in the aurelia of moths and butterflies. WHITE. 



In my "Naturalist's Calendar" for 1795, July 2ist, I find the 

 following note : 



It is not uncommon for some of the species of ichneumon flies 

 to deposit their eggs in the chrysalis of a butterfly; some time 

 ago I put two of the chrysales of a butterfly into a box, and 

 covered it with gauze, to discover what species of butterfly they 

 would produce ; but instead of a butterfly, one of them produced 

 a number of small ichneumon flies. 



There are many instances of the great service these little insects 

 are to mankind in reducing the number of noxious insects, by 

 depositing their eggs in the soft bodies of their larva ; but none 

 more remarkable than that of the ichneumon tipulcz, which pierces 

 the tender bodies and deposits its eggs in the larva of the Tipula 

 tritici, an insect which, when it abounds greatly, is very prejudicial 

 to the grains of wheat. This operation I have frequently seen it 

 perform with wonder and delight. MARKWICK. 



BOMBYLIUS MEDIUS. 



The Bombylius medius is much about in March and the begin- 

 ning of April, and soon seems to retire. It is a hairy insect, 

 like a humble-bee, but with only two wings, and a long straight 

 beak, with which it sucks the early flowers. The female seems 

 to lay its eggs as it poises on its wings, by striking its tail on 

 the ground, and against the grass that stands in its way, in a 

 quick manner, for several times together. WHITE. 



I have often seen this insect fly with great velocity, stoo on 



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