480 



iUiiweii.sis. 1 have bred it in IIoiiolulii diiring- 1917 from 

 Bruchus prosopis in the pods of Prosopis juUflora, from the 

 dolichos weevil in the beans of DoIicJios lahlab within the pods, 

 from Bruclias prulnlnus in the seeds of Leucaena (jlaiica on 

 the gronnd, and from Bruchus chinensis in pigeon peas. 



It has not been observed in the Islands before since its in- 

 troduction, but it may now be found quite commonly beneath 

 the Leucaena bushes or bred in numbers from its various hosts. 



The adults mate readily in captivity with but little pre- 

 liminary courtship and the females oviposit readily in captivity 

 in the seeds of Leucaena,. in the "pods of Dolichos and in vari- 

 ous bruchus-infested seeds of legumes. The female is perhaps 

 attracted by the movements of the bruchus larva as it prepares 

 for pupation, oviposition taking place when the larva is full- 

 grown the e^^ frequently failing to hatch before the bruchus 

 larva has transformed Heterospilus then developing at the 

 exj^ense of the bruchus puj)a. The egg is spindle-shaped; the 

 poles are slightly different in form ; and attachment is by one 

 end and is slightly oblique to the perpendicular ; the Qgg may 

 be fixed on almost any part of the bruchus larva. 



The species having been introduced as parasite of Bruchus^ 

 prosopis and not proving in Mr. Fullaway's hands easy to 

 breed in that host in captivity, it has been interesting to learn 

 the conditions under which it oviposits in the pods of Pro- 

 sopis. The structure of the Prosopis pod as it drops from the 

 tree would seem to prevent oviposition on account of the mod- 

 erately short ovipositor of Heterospilus. The ripe pods of Pro- 

 sopis juliflora in the Islands may be from five to seven or eight 

 inches in length, a half inch in width, and about five-eights 

 of an inch in thickness, about an eighth of an inch of material 

 intervening between the seed and the surface of the pod. The 

 outer layer of the pod is made up of a thin, firm cuticle sup- 

 ported by a very thin fibrous layer ; this layer is separated 

 from the inner layer of the pod by a soft pithy substance 

 filled with a syrupy fluid ; around each seed a firm woody 

 layer forms a separate envelope within which the seed rests. 



