208 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
from Catagalla, in Brazil. They are accompanied by an 
abundance of Microgaster that does not seem to differ from 
the one of Europe, but the cluster is much larger and more 
closely united, and looks like a compact tuft of cotton.— 
Francis Walker. 
Note on Phylloxera Quercus.—Phylloxera Quercus will 
probably be soon observed more than hitherto in England, 
on account of the observations of Balbiani with reference to 
it, and on account of its affinity to the much-dreaded 
Phylloxera vastatrix, on which Riley has this year bestowed 
fifty-six pages in the sixth annual report on the ‘ Insects of 
Missouri ;’ yet he remarks that the full history of Phylloxera 
has yet to be written. Phylloxera is nearly allied to Chermes, 
on which Leuckart long ago made some interesting researches; 
and P. Quercus agrees with Chermes as to the mode of life in 
the winter generation. The appearance of P. Quercus this 
year was somewhat earlier than usual: it was abundant in 
the beginning of July, when, in addition to the generally- 
distributed whitish blotches caused by Orchestes Quercus, 
oak trees may be seen here and there with Jeaves covered by 
yellow spots, feach of which, sometimes fifty in number on 
one leaf, shows the presence of a Phylloxera on the under 
side. There the mother sits, surrounded by concentric 
circles of eggs, sometimes one hundred in number, and in 
that case there might be five thousand eggs under one leaf; 
but this, perhaps, never happens: sometimes the mother has 
no eggs about her, and then the yellow spot is limited to the 
size of her body; sometimes the mother has disappeared 
from the eggs; sometimes a Scymnus(?) larva appropriates 
one by one the whole cluster of eggs, and then the mother 
has desolation all around her. Callipterus Quercus and The- 
laxes dryophila appear now and then in company with the 
Phylloxera: the Thelaxes not only frequents oak-apples, but 
also feeds on incipient acorns, and on incipient galls of 
Dryophanta folii.—Jd. 
Rearing Larve in Earthenware Pots.—I suppose most ento- 
mologists have found jam-pots, or the ordinary garden-pots, 
covered with leno or muslin, and with a little earth at the 
bottom if the habits of the species require it, to be convenient 
in many respects for the rearing of larve not too young. 
They are especially suitable when twigs or stems of the 
Oye bh en) 
