JSTYMPH-STAGE OF THE EMBID^. 375 



nymphs," and inviting me to examine them. This I almost im- 

 mediately did ; but there were then only two, one having escaped. 

 Of these, 'one was kindly presented to me ; but it soon died 

 (after having considerably decreased in size) owing to my inabi- 

 lity to furnish it with the moist warm atmosphere no doubt neces- 

 sary ; the other was retained in the hothouse, and subsequently 

 developed intoaperfect insect, an undescribed species oiOligotoma. 

 The nymph that died with me I placed in alcohol. It is now only 

 9 millimetres long, but was at least one third longer when I first 

 had it. The rudimentary wings are elongate-oval in form, and 

 show evident traces of neuration. The mesothoracic pair extend 

 to the posterior margin of the second abdominal segment. The 

 general characters are but slightly modified ; but the legs (espe- 

 cially the anterior) more resemble those of the pei^fect insect than 

 those of the wingless larval condition, and the eyes are consider- 

 ably larger than in the latter. The antennae (in this species) ap- 

 pear to be 24-jointed in all the stages (but young larvae have not 

 been examined) ; but the joints are more elongate in the perfect 

 insect, and those at the base undergo considerable changes in 

 length from the larval to the mature condition. 



Habits Sfc. of the Embidse. 



Probably the first notice (at any rate the first of any import- 

 ance) appeared in the great French work on the " Exploration 

 scientifique de I'Algerie, Histoire naturelle des Animaux articules, 

 Insectes," pp. 113-114 (1849), from the pen of M. Lucas, who 

 says he found JEmiia mauritanica " vivant en famille dans les lieux 

 sablonneux, et se tenant sur les tiges des grandes herbes ; j'en 

 rencontrai 'une douzaine d'individus, qui parcouraient de haut 

 en bas une tige dessechee de Scilla maritima ; elle est tres-agile, 

 et se laisse saisir sans se servir de ses ailes pour prendre la fuite." 



" La larve que j'ai trouvee dans les environs d' Alger, se 



tient sous les pierres humides, et habite de petits fourreaux de 

 soie, dans lesquels elle se retire lorsqu'on cherche a s'emparer 

 d'elle. Elle est tres-agile, carnassiere, et n'est pas tres-rare pen- 

 dant la saison d'hiver. Ayant ete oblige de partir pour Constan- 

 tine dans les premiers jours de Mars, je n'ai pu suivre d'une 

 maniere bien detaillee les transformations de cette larve, et, a ce 

 sujet, voici ce que j'ai remarque : avant de quitter la province 

 d'Alger, j'avais enferme separement, dans plusieurs boites, 



