Cerocomae, Mylabres and Zonites 



doubt. Rearing them at home will dispel 

 the mists of probability and replace them by 

 the light of certainty. But that is all: I have 

 not a vestige of the perfect insect to inform 

 me of the nature of the parasite. The fu- 

 ture, let us hope, will fill this gap. Such was 

 the result of the first trench opened in the 

 heap of sand. Later searches enriched my 

 harvest a little, without furnishing me with 

 fresh data. 



Let us now proceed to examine my double 

 find. And first of all the pseudochrysalis, 

 which put me on the alert. It is a motion- 

 less, rigid body, of a waxen yellow, smooth, 

 shiny, curved like a fish-hook towards the 

 head, which is inflected. Under a very 

 powerful magnifying-glass the surface is seen 

 to be strewn with very tiny points which are 

 slightly raised and shinier than the surface. 

 There are thirteen segments, including the 

 head. The dorsal surface is convex, the 

 ventral surface flat. A blunt ridge divides 

 the two surfaces. The three thoracic seg- 

 ments bear each a pair of tiny conical nipples, 

 of a deep rusty red, signs of the future legs. 

 The stigmata are very distinct, appearing as 

 specks of a deeper red than the rest of the 

 integuments. There is one pair, the largest, 

 on the second segment of the thorax, almost 

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