400 Miscellaneous. 



to the full size, and such as had been first attacked had disappeared 

 altogether, their place being marked ^ith an empty husk. But these 

 maggots, small as they are, are not soon satisfied, nor is their larval 

 state of very short duration ; they therefore scatter themselves further 

 among the grains ; and one of the latter was observed especially, 

 that had suffered no injury in the course of its grovrth, but which 

 was infected with a pale spot at the place where a wandering maggot 

 had fixed itself to begin its operations. Under such circumstances, 

 the ravages of this apparently contemptible insect must prove ex- 

 ceedingly formidable ; and the more so, as there is reason to suppose 

 that they continue to feed until the hardening of the grain renders it 

 beyond their power. It is remarkable that this larva has not been 

 traced into its state of chrysalis. Such of these larvae as are first 

 hatched escape into the earth, where, no doubt, they undergo their 

 natural changes, to prepare them for again appearing in the form of 

 a fly in the following year ; but such is not the fate of a large num- 

 ber of them, which, accorduig to the observant naturalist quoted 

 above, are conveyed to the barn, and from thence to the winnowing 

 machine, where they become separated in the chaff. So great is the 

 number of these, that from 10,000 to 20,000 are believed to have 

 been contained in a single bushel. By the action of winnowing they 

 become separated with the dust, and they are found to drop to the 

 ground within the distance of three yards from the machine. It is 

 not the least remarkable point in the history of this animal, that ail 

 these larvae, thus separated, are incapable of surviving ; and the 

 utmost skill has not been able to rear them into the condition of a 

 fly : no danger for the future is therefore to be feared from them ; 

 and it is only those which have buried themselves in the field that 

 produce the insect for the future harvest. The diflficulty of providing 

 against future injury is great in proportion to our ignorance of the 

 further history of the insect ; but it has been observed that heavy 

 rolling of the ground in which it is buried — or what is better, the 

 trampling of much cattle — has been to a considerable extent suc- 

 cessful. The exact season for doing this must be determined by 

 experience. — Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society for 

 1856. 



Description q/" Actinopsis, a 7iew genus of A.cimiie from Norway. 

 By D. C. Daxielssen and J. Koren. 



Genus AcTiNopsis, n. g. 



Brevis, cylindrica, infra in magnum et gracilem basin extensa, 

 margine oris in duos longos et rigidos semicylindros prolongate, 

 quorum margines laterales deorsum flexi et extremitates bisulcse ; 

 tentacula non retractilia. 



Actinopsis flava, the only species, is about \ an inch in length of 

 body, and the outer tentacles measure about |ths of an inch. Its 

 colour is yellow. Two specimens were taken in the Bav of Hard- 

 anger, half a league from Utne, at a depth of about 250 fathoms. 

 They were attached io Lima excavata. — Fauna Lift. Xorveg. ii. p. 87. 



