JsO-* HALIDAY ON 



approxima(i elongati et saepius incrassati, femoribus compressis, 

 coxis magnis, tibiis apice truncatis ; calcaria plerisque elongata 

 subulata : abdomen sessile aut subsessile thoracis longitudine vel 

 eo brevius, segmentis dorsi octo, ventris sex : segmenta anteriora 

 multimodis difformia, primi scutum dorsale plerisque angustatum, 

 latera membranacea utrinque retegens ultimum minutissimum ; 

 ventris segmenta anteriora plerunque pallido pellucent, sextum 

 carinatum aculeum fulciens nee libere mobile ut in Agathide : 

 aculeus mode subexertus vel reconditus, modo abdominis longi- 

 tudine et apice decurvus. 

 Lepidopterorum larvis genus maxime infestum. Mater erucam vix 

 repugnantem insiliens, terebrse ictu repetito ova plurima cuti 

 infigit (vel pilis agglutinat ?) : ^ larvaB hinc enatae intra corpus 

 erucse degunt gregariae adipem depastae extis intactis ; maturse 

 mox erucse cute perforata undique prorumpunt, et statim meta- 

 morphosi se accingunt, folliculum subcylindricum e serico subtili 

 sibi cuique nentes ; quos modo annectunt ramulo, lateribus ad 

 invieem agglutinatos et in modum alvearis laminas dispositos ; 

 modo foliis, parietibus, arborum truncis, seriatim vel temere 

 aggregates, reticulo laxiore universis substrate ; vel denique 

 cunctos intra globum spissum bombacinum obtectos culmo 

 graminis alligant. Metamorphosin peragunt intra paucas septi- 

 manas ; alii hyemem in folliculis durant, pro anni tempore. 

 Insectum in pupario latet corpore extenso, antennis et pedibus 

 inflexis. Folliculi operculis pulsu capitis excussis, declaratis dant 

 exitum. Ut hi erucas sic ipsos Crypti nonnuili minores enecant ; 

 saucii tamen folliculos ut intefrri conficiunt, at non sibi.'' 



^ Ichneumon necutor. Scliarfenberg. 



^ The cocoons of this tribe are composed of a very fine glossy silk of one 

 colour, which can be woinid oft" like that of the silkworm, while in most of the 

 remaining Ichneumoncs they are of a gummy texture and banded. They are 

 arranged in various modes, examples of which, and a minute account of the process 

 of construction, may be found in the second volume of Reaumur's Memoirs. The 

 larvEe are generally supplied with a two-fold secretion of silk ; that which comes 

 out first being of a looser and coarser texture, and serving for a common envelope 

 for the whole society. The sections into which the genus has been divided, do 

 not appear to be characterised by a particular disposition of the cocoons, as this 

 differs in species the most nearly related. Some are collected into a ball, and 

 entirely concealed within a thick cottony mass attached to a stalk of grass (as 

 M. glohatus, intricatus, &c.) ; others are fastened round a twig, and arranged side 

 by side, like the cells of a honeycomb {M. alvearius, alvearifex). In many they are 

 scattered, or collected in an irregular heap, and covered with a loose web of open 

 textin-e, but tough, as is the case with M. glomeratus, the most familiar species, 

 which keeps down the numbers of the common white butterfly. A correspondent 

 in Loudon's Magazine, Vol. III. p. 52, affirms that the caterpillar of the butterfly 



