236 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XX. 



growing less in number till the next season, and in five years' observation of 

 this genus, we have never seen breeding at any time but March. This season 

 has been an exceptionally wet one and the mango trees shot out freely in 

 September. Whether from this reason or not, the Idiocerus also bred and one 

 distinct brood was produced at a season when we have never before observed 

 it breed at all. One hesitates to put this down definitely to any cause except 

 that the very curious breeding times of this insect are accounted for in no 

 other way but by saying that the growth of new shoots in March actually 

 does provide a tissue soft enough for egg-laying and also abundance of sap as 

 food for both young and adults. One would imagine ihat a tree such as the 

 mango provided abundant sap all the year round but it evidently does not. 

 (c).— The Eggs of Tettigoniella. 



Tettigoniella spectra is a very common white Jassid found upon rice and 

 grass ; like most of our obscurer insects it has been very little investigated and 

 only its bare occurrence noted. Its eggs were recently found, laid side by 

 side in the tissues of the leaves of the rice plant, the usual cigar-shaped eggs 

 found in this family. Those found here were submerged and were kept in 

 water to hatch. They hatched but while a few yielded nymphs, most yielded 

 a tiny winged Proctotrypid parasite which was perfectly at home under water, 

 walking about and evidently accustomed to going under water in search of 

 eggs in which to oviposit. In the present state of entomology it is impossible 

 to identify Proctotrypida, which are extremely abundant in India. Other 

 aquatic Proctotrypids are known, predaceous on aquatic insects, notably 

 Prestwichia, parasitic upon the eggs of Caddis flies in water and Polynemia in 

 the eggs of a dragonfly. 



(d). — What do dragonflies eat ? 



Practically all day long there are dragonflies on the wing, hawking in the air 

 and, presumably, getting something for their trouble. At times the air is full of 

 them, as it were, and seeing them against the setting sun, one sees simply a multi- 

 tude of shining forms, darting here and there in incessant activity. They congre- 

 gate in spots, not always the same but varying from day to day, perhaps as food 

 is to be found and as the insects they prey on are to be found here and there. 



During the last month (November) there have been abundant May-flies, of 

 the genus Chlceon, dancing up and down in the still air as the sun rises ; each 

 one goes steadily up, then goes down straight in a rush and then up again 

 with steady flight; sometimes a number will swoop down together and the 

 dancing groups, seen with a shimmer as the level rising sun strikes them, are 

 extremely beautiful. These are the prey of dragonflies, and one can see very 

 distinctly the dragonfly, moving back and forward on a level height, striking 

 at and feeding on the May-fly that comes within its range; so far as one can 

 estimate the dragonflies can see a May-fly perhaps a foot off, and as the May-fly 

 company dances, one sees the dragonflies striking out at those on the outside 

 but apparently not seeing any others. Dragonflies are known to be short-sighted 

 and in this case one can see clearly how their short-sight works. This case is 



