1894.] HILL-GRUB ENQUIRY 107 



present. That enormous appearance of the images must 

 have been a wonderful sight ; I should have liked to see it 

 and what (I wonder) will be the result ? 



Pretty surely I suppose there will be egg-laying and a 

 consequent presence of larvae ? But if your convenience 

 allowed you to inspect say two months hence, would it not 

 be very interesting to ascertain absolutely make sure 

 whether there is a presence of the " hill grubs " or whether 

 the parasitism of their parents has been transmitted, to the 

 weakening or destruction of their descendants ? If we 

 found no grubs, nor grubs with " flacherie " present, what a 

 very interesting discovery this would be ! 



September 14, 1894. 



I am writing a few lines at once on receipt of your letter, 

 first to thank you for your geographical note, which helps 

 me very much. [These attacks of "hill-grubs" were more 

 or less general over the hill country of Kirkcudbrightshire 

 and over the adjacent sheep-farms in Ayrshire, the Dum- 

 friesshire hills, and the contiguous sheep-farm districts in 

 Lanarkshire, Peebles, Selkirk, and Roxburgh. Seven 

 counties were affected to my knowledge. R.S.] What a wide- 

 spread outburst this has been ! But I also write to beg you 

 not to suppose for one minute that I see any reason to 

 doubt what we have had laid down for such a length of 

 time about date of hatching of larvae of C. graminis. Mr. 

 Wm. Buckler J " lumped " his observations of this and two 

 other species, and it seems to me that what happened to 

 caterpillars, which I gather he observed in captivity, in no 

 way militates against correctness of other people's out-of- 

 door observations. 



With many thanks for all the information you give me. 



November 20, 1894. 



I am very much obliged to you for the very interesting 

 note you have let me have about these dipterous parasites 2 

 of the C. graminis. How fortunate you have been to 

 secure them, and in such good order too ! As you have 

 been kind enough to give me two of your specimens, I think 

 I will presently send one of them to Mr. Meade, of Bradford. 

 I am sure he would value it very much, and would doubtless 

 identify it, which would be a help to me, for as you know 

 I do not like to rest without verification on my own 



1 In Larva of British Butterflies and Moths (Ray Society). 



2 Exorista lota, "not an uncommon fly, and parasitic on several 

 Lepidoptera." Meade. 



