460 OBSERVATIONS ON 



any resistance, the ichneumon applied her tail to him, and 

 stung him with great vehemence, so that he soon became 

 dead and motionless. The ichneumon then running back- 

 ward 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 21st, 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 chrysalis 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 in- 

 sects, by depositing their eggs in the soft bodies of their 

 larvce; but none more remarkable than that of the ichneumon 

 of tipula, which pierces the tender body 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 opera- 

 tion I have frequently seen it perform with wonder and de- 

 light. MAEKWICK. 



BOMBYLIUS MEDIUS. 



The bombylius medius is much about in March and the 

 beginning of April, and soon seems to retire. It is an hairy 

 insect, like an 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 



