Entomoloyical Society . 9381 



less favourable conditions attending their production. They are of oval shape and -28 

 of a millimetre in their longer diameter. The mean quantity found in a pouch cannot 

 be estimated at less than 100 to 125. The hatching of the eggs begins at the peri- 

 phery of the pouch, the circumference of which is soon afterwards torn by the first 

 larvae which appear. The gnawing of the pouch by ants, which arc greedy in pursuit 

 of it, rapidly effects the exit of the young 'lice' and their dispersion over the sur- 

 rounding parts. It is only at the end of several days that all the larva? have burst 

 through the filamentous matter, and abandoned the pouch which sheltered them. 

 At this time, the mother is almost dried up aud looks like a brownish scale. 

 At the moment of detaching itself, the larva is still surrounded by a film of the 

 filamentous substance, which by its lightness and the surface which it opposes 

 to the breeze easily explains the carriage of the insect for great distances by 

 means of currents of air. Its oblong body is from front to back -4 millimetres in 

 length; with three pairs of long and slender feet, the tarsus of which is formed of five 

 joints, and ends in a sort of claw which issues from between two long hairs. The 

 abdomen at the posterior and median part has a deep slit, which passes beyond two 

 small tubercles, on which are implanted two long filaments directed horizontally 

 backwards, and which have a slight curvature. The head has on either side a round 

 and prominent eye, and is armed with two long antennas bristling with short and 

 slender hairs. This larva is scarcely perceptible to the naked eye; it requires a strong 

 lens to see it distinctly. As soon as it leaves its mother's pouch, it seeks a place 

 suitable for fixing itself. It is curious to see the activity which these small animals 

 then display ; as quick in their movements as ants, they run from side to side, and 

 spread themselves over the neighbouring leaves, which they seem to study with care 

 until they meet with the wished-for conditions for establishing their new abode. 



" One remarkable circumstance peculiar to this insect is, that instead of improving 

 as it is developed, as takes place for the most part with other larva?, it on the contrary 

 gradually loses its primitive qualities, and at the end of some days transforms itself in 

 a manner not easy to be known again. Its tail and antenna? fall off, its feet waste 

 away, its head becomes less distinct, its body grows round ; and soon, incapable of 

 performing the slightest motion, it presents itself under the guise of a small whitish 

 and transparent body adhering closely to the leaf on which it has fastened itself. This 

 transformation, at one time slow, at another rapid, is dependent on the greater or 

 less facility which the larva meets with in finding a favourable locality, the object of 

 its active search. Thus withered leaves, exposure of the plant to a current of air, are 

 causes which retard the transformation; whilst a suitable exposure, tender and green 

 leaves, on the contrary, have the effect of making it more rapid. But, in any case, it 

 is only at the end of several days that the larva begins to undergo the modifications of 

 which we have just spoken. 



." Another particularity worthy of remark, and which is of paramount interest to us, 

 is the resistance which this larva offers to the ordinary means of destruction likely to 

 reach it. I have plunged it in water for twenty to thirty minutes, and at different 

 times, without being able to kill it. As soon as it had freed itself from all moisture it 

 resumed its habitual mode of procedure, and seemed to have lost none of its agility. And 

 what is astonishing, acetic acid (concentrated vinegar) and ammoniac acid are equally 

 powerless over it. Alcohol, on the contrary, acts on the insect with fatal promptness. 

 To kill it, it is sufficient to touch it with the tip of a point which carries a small drop 

 of spirits of wine. This property might be made use of iu opposing the insect, by 

 employing, to wet the leaves of the young canes which are attacked, the fermented 



