5Gb 



A 11 T I C U L A T A. 



burrows of tlio wootl-boriiiff insects, whose larv.-o they arc enabled to reach by means of this 

 orijmi. I'^u'h species usu.illv inf.sts a |)arti(ular species of insect ; and, singular as it may appear, 



many of these parasitic larvte are 

 again preyed upon by others, 

 whose parents are directed by an 

 unerring instinct to the selection 

 of the proper position for the 

 nourishment of their offspring. 



Many of them, and especially 

 the larger species, only lay a sin- 

 gle egg in their victim ; l»ut the 

 larva3 of many of the smaller 

 species exist in familcs of a hun- 

 dred, or even more, in tlie bodies 

 of caterpillars and other insects. 

 The species of Ichneumon-Fly are 

 exceedingly numerous, in most 

 parts of the world ; the largest in 

 the United States is the Pinrpla 

 luruitor, popularly called Long- 

 stinger : the body of this is an inch and a half long, and the ovipositor three inches. 



One species of Cuckoo-Fly, the Chrysis ignita, well known in Europe under the name of Ruhy- 

 Tail, generally exhibits a gem-like brilliancy of color, the thorax being usually of a fine metallic 

 blue or green, and the abdomen of a most splendid ruby color. They are mostly of small size, 

 and may be seen, in the hottest sunshine of summer, running about upon walls, palings, and 

 sand-banks, in search of the nests of wild bees and other hymenopterous insects, upon which 

 their larvae are parasitic. Mr. Westwood observes that they deserve the name of Cuckoo-Flies 

 more than any other parasitic insects, as it appears that in most cases their larva) feed rather 

 upon the store of food laid up for the nourishment of their host than upon the host itself, although 

 they doubtless finish by devouring the rightful inhabitant of their usurped domicile. 



\ 



ICHNEUMON MAKIFESTATOB. 



GALL INSECTS. 



THE GALLICOLA. 

 This term, from the Latin galla, the oak-apple, and cola, to inhabit, is applied to a tribe of 

 insects which are almost exclusively vegetable feeders, and includes the well-known Gall-In- 



