SPINNING MITES. lo'j 



CASE on the upper side of the leaves of the camellia. It is of a deep 

 viii. 



red, of an oval form, and reddens the fingers when one crushes it. 



If after having cleaned the leaf, where it has established itself, one 



examines it, one sees that it is pricked from place to place, and 



that the points where this little parasite had inserted its sucker had 



become of a reddish colour. He observed it in the autumn in 



several gardens on the camelHas, and also on some other plants 



of the greenhouse. 



No. 5. Tetranychus Sp. — 5. Magnified sketch of ditto. 



This is a species which we found inhabiting a slightly decayed 

 crack in the twig of an oak-tree. It has several points of resem- 



Pblance with T. telarius, but is not dull or downy-like in texture 

 like it, but somewhat shiny. It was rubicund, transparent, and had 

 a dark patch on each side, and an indistinct division between the 

 thorax and abdomen. It may, however, only be a variety of telarius, 

 and we have therefore refrained from proposing a name for it. 



Nos. Tetranychus fici {Mt(ri\n. s.).— 6. Sketch of leaf attacked by ditto. 7. 

 ^' 7- Enlarged sketch of insect. 



Found in great numbers on the leaves of fig-trees, near London, 

 probably imported. It is ovate, dull yellowish, and not glabrous 

 or very transparent. 



Nos. Tetranychus tiliarum {Mull.\ Flexipalpus tiliamm {Scheuten).—^. 



^' 9- Enlarged sketch of ditto. 9. Lime leaf covered by ditto. 



Claparede considers this species to be only a variety or synonym 

 of T. telarius. We have not met with it since we learned that this 

 was his opinion, so as to subject it to a careful comparative 

 examination ; but our remembrance of a more superficial exami- 

 nation some years ago is opposed to their identity. It especially 

 attacks the lime tree, but it is not confined to it, having done con- 

 siderable mischief to many crops in France in 1874 — as French 

 beans, cucumbers, and melons. It is a minute yellowish or orange- 

 coloured species ; and it occasionally occurs in such numbers as 

 almost to denude the trees of their foHage ; and it has been noted 



