RAVAGES OF CATERPILLARS. 



215 



pseudo-caterpillars of one of the saw-flies (J^cmatuit 

 Ribesii, Stephens). Tlie latter insect has a flat yel- 

 low body and four pellucid wings, the two outer ones 

 marked with brown on the edge. In April it issues 

 from the pupa, which has lain under ground from the 

 preceding September. Tlie female of the gooseberry 

 saw-fly does not, like some of the family, cut a groove 

 in the branch to deposit her eggs; — ' of what use, 

 then,' asks Ri'aumur, ' is her ovipositor saw?'* In 

 order to satisfy himself on this point, he introduced 

 a pair of the flies under a bell-glass along with a 

 branch bent from a red-currant bush, that he might 

 watch the process. The female immediately peram- 

 bulated the leaves in search of a place suited to 

 her purpose, and passing under a leaf began to lay, 



n n (7, J'aw-tly of the sot-fl" TV 

 e^^s on the nerviires ot u leal", d d, the 

 ^•le<l up. /, one extended. 



. Stcrhcs). 4, its 

 iimri i-aliiig. c, one 



* See Insect Architpcture, cha^i. v;i, for a description of thii 

 eur ous instrument. 



