SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



373 



Malformed Caterpillar. — The accompanying 

 drawing presents a magnified view of a curious 

 Lepidopterous larva belonging to the family 

 Oecophoridae, group Tineina, and is the only 

 instance of the kind known to me. It is about 

 half-an-inch in length, the seventh segment, as 

 shown in the illustration, bearing an "attach- 

 ment." The ground colour is fawn drab, with two 

 subdorsal longitudinal bands of darker ground 

 colour, proceeding the whole length, below which 

 are the orange-coloured spiracles. I am not quite 

 certain as to the generic position of the moth, 

 although I ventured to refer it to Palparia calli- 



Malformed Caterpillar. 



morpha Lower. The caterpillar belongs to the 

 very few cannibalistic species found in Australia, 

 and was found in the centre of a mass of " galls " 

 formed by a species of Coccidae of the genus 

 Sphaerococcus Maskell, and was subsequently ob- 

 served feeding upon the adult coccids. Strange 

 to note, this caterpillar could walk, or crawl, with 

 apparently the utmost ease. Has any reader of 

 Science-Gossip ever noticed a similar instance 

 among insect larvae ? — James Lidgett, F.E.S., 

 Myoniong, Victoria, Australia. Feb. 11th, 1899. 



The Marine Water-Glass. — Would you very 

 kindly give me more information respecting the 

 marine " water-glass," such as dimensions and way 

 to make one, which the writer of an article in 

 February number of Science-Gossip refers to as 

 having used at Bermuda? — Robert B. Hansell, 

 1921, Linden Avenue, Baltimore, Ma., U.S.A. 

 [On receipt of Professor Hansell's letter we asked 

 Major Cummins for further particulars. We 

 imagine the instrument will be useful in our home 

 waters as well as abroad. Major Cummins has 

 kindly replied as follows, and sent a sketch for 

 our readers' guidance. — Ed. S-G.] " The enclosed 

 drawing may explain the idea. The sides of the 

 'water-glass/ which are of wood, are fastened 

 together so as to form a square watertight box, 

 with sides sloping to a narrower end. The glass 

 is inserted in the bottom with white lead. Two 



patterns are in common use in Bermuda. The 

 first is the native form, in which the opening 

 above is wider than the base. An improved and 

 larger form, with handles at two sides, used by 

 the Royal Engineers, has this arrangement re- 

 versed, as shown in the figure. The sides of the 

 box are made of three-quarter inch wood, and the 

 glass is rather strong ; the whole weighing from 



Diagram or Water-glass. 



five to ten pounds, according to size. The best 

 dimensions are those given in the sketch, viz., 

 about 24 inches from top to bottom and 18 inches 

 across the bottom. As stated in my article on 

 Bermuda, the object of the water-glass is to get 

 rid of the surface ripple on the sea, and to obtain, 

 to a depth of several fathoms, an uninterrupted 

 view of the animals below. If the glass bottom 

 gets misty or clouded by moisture on the upper 

 side, a little water run over it makes the glass 

 quite clear again. I may add that I have suc- 

 ceeded in taking photographs through a water- 

 glass of a coral reef at a depth of several feet. It 

 will be found a generally useful appliance for 

 students of marine flora and fauna. — H. A. 

 Cummins." 



Parasite of Humble Bees. — The parasites 

 your correspondent, Mr. F.Noad Clarke, mentions 

 (ante 343) as having found in such numbers on a 

 humble bee, were not, as he supposes, the mite 

 Gamasus coleoptratorum, but quite a distinct 

 species named by Berlese, Poecilorhirus fucorum, 

 regarding which he says " nympha est coleoptrata 

 (cuius speciei )?" Both these and the G. 

 coleoptratorum that infest the dung beetle are 

 nymphal or immature forms. The adult form of 

 G. coleoptratorum is well known, but this is not 

 the case with the other. For some years past I 

 have kept both species, and have always found 

 G. coleoptratorum to become adult in May, and 

 then after a week or ten days they have sometimes 

 laid eggs from which were soon hatched small 

 white six-legged larvae, which in due time changed 

 to the ordinary nymphal forms. Those from the 

 humble bee on the other hand have always died 

 without reaching the adult stage, though I have 

 caught and kept them in confinement at all 

 seasons of the year, and although some have sur- 

 vived for more than twelve months, none ever 

 passed out of the nymphal stage. These nymphs 

 are superficially very much alike, so that a short 

 description of one might apply equally well to the 

 other, but among minor points in which they 

 differ, there is one, viz., the form of the mandibles 

 is so different as to render a mistake impossible. 

 I have reared other species of the Gamasidae, 

 which in their nymphal forms are not unlike the 

 above, and that have gone through all their 

 changes and left, in from six weeks to two 

 months, a second generation. — Linlet Blathwayt, 

 Lieut.-Col., F.L.S, Batheaston, Bath. 



