NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 281 



cuckoo I have failed to determine ; certainly those of which I have 

 examined the stomachs have contained no trace of these larvae. 

 Unfortunately the handsome and richly ornamented larva of Papilio 

 machaon is a favourite diet of the cuckoo (although it might be 

 considered distasteful owing to its brilliant colouring, and the forked 

 retractile tubercles emitting a strong acrid scent which are protruded 

 when the larva is irritated) according to the facts stated by the late 

 Mr. Fergus M. Ogilvie, who was one of the most skilled and accurate 

 of field naturalists. I therefore think it may be of general interest 

 to other entomologists to quote the following observations made in 

 Norfolk and recorded by him. I omit the precise locality for obvious 

 reasons. Mr. Ogilvie states — ■" One young cuckoo, obtained July 27th, 

 contained a considerable number of the larvae of the swallow-tailed 

 butterfly. . . . Cuckoos are exceeding plentiful here. They are 

 distributed in greater numbers over the Broad district than in any 

 other locality with which I am acquainted. . . . I have little 

 doubt that the cuckoo of the Broad lays a heavy toll on the swallow- 

 tailed larvae when they are in season. It may well be that the pro- 

 gressive diminution of this — our handsomest British butterfly — is in 

 some measure due to the quantity of cuckoos in the district and their 

 insatiable appetites." 



It might be argued that as both the cuckoo and machaon have 

 been in existence for ages, these butterflies would in course of 

 time have long since ceased to exist where cuckoos abounded, but 

 when we know that birds sometimes gradually acquire a liking 

 for a new diet, which naturally becomes an inherited habit, such 

 may possibly be the cause for the now prevailing fondness of 

 cuckoos for machaon larvae, and if such is the case this fine insect 

 may finally disappear from its British haunts. — F. W. Fkohawk. 



Henei Fabee and the Miceogastee. — -With regard to the Rev. 

 G. W. Crutchley's article under the above title in last month's 

 Entomologist, I know the account of the oviposition of Apanteles 

 glomeratus by Fabre quite well, and years ago, when his book was 

 first translated into English, had intended writing a note on the 

 subject. I fear the celebrated Frenchman was sadly astray in this 

 case and may have confused some egg-parasite (a Chalcid or a 

 Proctotrupid) with the Braconid. On more than one occasion I have 

 witnessed the imagines of A. glomeratus ovipositing on larvae of 

 Pieris brassicae, and the process is as described by Mr. Crutchley. 

 The sudden and repeated attacks and the jerk given by the host to 

 dislodge the parasite I can confirm. I must admit, however, that I 

 have never noticed the attackers to be drenched by the green fluid 

 which exudes from the mouths of the caterpillars ; indeed Mr. 

 Crutchley appears to prove that if this fluid is deliberately squirted 

 at the parasite, which I am rather inclined to doubt, it is far from 

 being a satisfactory method of defence. — G. T. Lyle ; Briarfield, 

 Shibden, nr. Halifax. 



An Uncommon Ant. — Very little literature appears to exist con- 

 cerning the life-history and habits of Stenamma weshcoodi Steph. 

 This small ant— a member of the sub-family Myrmicimc— is chiefly 

 described as being taken in small numbers in the nests of other ants, 



ENTOM. — DECEMBER, 1922. A A 



