158 MB. E. P. STEBBIKG ON THE 



of this continued tapping process on the part of the grub it is 

 still alive, slowly moving its legs and antennae. This object- 

 lesson iu the insect Avorld has to be seen and watched, to be 

 properly appreciated. At first sight it would appear incredible 

 that such a small larva as the Vedalia should be capable of 

 entirely absorbing the contents of an insect of the size of the 

 Monoplilebus, and the curious point about this absorption is that 

 the grub shows little signs of having assimilated this large 

 amount of food- material. There is very little distension of the 

 segments, and I could observe very little excretion taking place 

 during or after this heavy meal. The grub is very active, and 

 must be possessed of an exceedingly rapid digestive system. 

 It would be of great interest to study its digestive organs 

 with the object of discovering whether it gets rid of excreta 

 in any manner through the skin. 



I have mentioned the great voracity of the grub, and my 

 observations led me to discover that it has cannibalistic pro- 

 pensities, for I found it preying upon pupae of its own species. 

 This may have been due to a shortness in the food-supply. It 

 dashes on the pupa with its usual impetuosity, seizes it round 

 the crimson spherical portion with its two anterior legs, fixes its 

 mouth-parts into the soft tissues beneath the skin, and sucks 

 out the contents, leaving the crimson skin empty in a very short 

 time (fig. 8 a). 



The larva is parasitised by a hymenopterous or dipterous fly. 

 Larvae in the first stage of pupation, i. e. before the skin splits 

 down disclosing the crimson pupa, were noticed to have a dried 

 appearance. An examination showed several, as many as five 

 in some instances, small round holes, evidently the exit-holes of 

 a parasite (fig. 8 l). This insect, while it decreases the number 

 of future beetles, does not appear to prevent the larva destroying 

 a number of scales, since it has strength to pupate before suc- 

 cumbing to the parasite. I have not as yet discovered this 

 parasite. 



"When about to pupate the Vedalia grub becomes gregarious, 

 the pupae being often found in numbers close together on the 

 upper or under side of leaves or twigs &c. This habit was too 

 marked to have been due to accident. The beetles are very 

 gregarious. During the heat of the day, when they do not feed, 

 they are to be found in large numbers collected close together 



