STRONGYLOGASTEE CINGULATUS. 189 



deep green, paler below the spiracles, there oeing a 

 white lateral line at the junction of the two colours. 

 Legs whitish, with brown claws. Head brownish- 

 testaceous, two oval, black, or brownish-black marks on 

 vertex, eye spots black, mouth brownish. The skin 

 is bare ; spiracles brownish, the apical half of the last 

 segment paler than the preceding. 



They are found in June, July and August, and feed 

 on the flat side of the leaf on the lower side. The 

 pupa state appears to be passed in crevices in trees, 

 holes made by beetles, &c. 



As parasites there have been recorded : Gampoplex 

 transiens, Rtz. ; Cubocephalus fortipes, Gr. ; Ichneumon 

 Mussii, Ratz. ; M'esoleius niger, and I have also had a 

 Tachina from them. 



This is a very common species, and is distributed 

 all over Britain. They are found usually on the ferns 

 or on the flowers of Umbelliferce in early summer. 



The males are extremely rare in comparison to the 

 females. I am sure I have bred and captured hundreds 

 of the females, but have only succeeded in getting one 

 male which I bred, and curiously enough, it appeared 

 some days after all the females in the same batch had 

 emerged. Mr. F. Smith told me that this is also his 

 experience. He has sometimes had forty or fifty 

 females in his net at a time, without one male among 

 them. In all, Mr. Smith has taken only five or six 

 males, and I believe that this is pretty much the 

 experience of most collectors. We may then, I think, 

 conclude that parthenogenesis plays a constant role' 

 with this species ; a view confirmed by my having got 

 two virgin females to deposit fertile eggs, but the 

 larvae unfortunately died young, so that I do not know 

 whether males or females would be produced. 



Continental distribution : Sweden, Germany, Hol- 

 land, France, Switzerland, Tyrol, Russia, Spain, 

 Portugal. 



Obs. The North American 8. multicinctus, Norton, appears to be 

 very closely allied to, if not a variety of, cingulatus. 





