AND ANATOMY OF CERTAIN HYMENOPTEEA PARASITICA. 403 



Hyper-liyperparasites and Other Hyperparasites associated through Microgaster 

 and Mesochorns, etc. with Porthesia and Pieris. 



I£ the silk .pupa-cases o£ Microgasteridse, Microgaster, Apanteles, etc., be 

 collected from their natural positions on walls and tree-branches and kept 

 in bottles, it will sometimes be found that apart from the Microgasters and 

 Mesochorids one may breed out other hymenopterous insects. In certain 

 cases the evidence goes to show that some of these insects are hyper- 

 hyperparasites. This is to say, that the insect which attacked the parasitic 

 Alicrogaster (the hyperparasite) has in its turn been attacked by another 

 parasite which is therefore a hyper-hyperparasite. 



I have not bred Mesochonis pallidus from Apanteles glomeratus cocoons, 

 but there is another Ichneumon, hyperparasitic on Apanteles, which I have 

 bred, and tbis evidently stands in the same relationship to Apanteles as 

 M. pallidus does to Microgaster connexus. For a good memoir on the 

 parasites, hyperparasites, etc., of Pieris hrassicce the reader is referred to 

 Martelli's bionomical account (3). 



Mr. Gr. Lyle, of Cambridge, kindly writes that he has long suspected the 

 presence of hyper-hyperparasites in connection with Microgaster. He bred 

 some Chalcids (Fteromalus) from the cocoons of M. connexus. which he 

 considered to be hyper-hyperparasites because the whole of the cocoons 

 in the brood which did not produce Chalcids yielded hyperparasites. 



Mr. Lyle also records that he has bred a Chalcid of the genus Cirrospilus 

 (Westwood) from the cocoons of Apanteles juniperatce (Bouche), which he 

 believes to have been a hyper-hyperparasite through Parnaryyrops aeretis 

 (Grav.). 



It will be seen that the lives of these parasites, hyperparasites and hyper- 

 hyperparasites are confusedly interwoven, and the correct understanding of the 

 various bionomical problems in this connection will need special and careful 

 study. It seems clear that some of the hyperparasites are also sometimes 

 hyper-hyperparasites in other cases, according to the contents of the pupa- 

 case or cocoon they are attacking. The correct observance of the habits 

 of the parasites, hyperparasites, and hyper-hyperparasites of injurious and 

 beneficial insects such as the Cabbage butterfly {Pieris hrassicoi) are of great 

 economical value, and will open a wide field for the embryologist and 

 cytologist, (3). 



Note on Parasitism, Hyper parasitism, etc., hy Hynienoptera 

 among Aphidce (Plant Lice). 



If a colony of Aphids on a leaf or branch be examined, it will be found 

 that among the living Aphids are to be seen dead individuals whose bodies 

 may be somewhat swollen, which are a light straw-brown colour, and which 



LINN. JOURN. ZOOLOGY, VOL. XXXIII. 29 



