﻿179 
  

  

  As 
  to 
  the 
  insect 
  enemies 
  of 
  B. 
  fundiventris, 
  no 
  parasites 
  are 
  known 
  

   to 
  exist. 
  The 
  following 
  are 
  amongst 
  the 
  enemies 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  from 
  

   the 
  animal 
  world 
  : 
  — 
  (1) 
  ants 
  ; 
  (2) 
  various 
  beetles 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  Cara- 
  

   BiDAE 
  : 
  Poecilus 
  cupreus, 
  L., 
  P. 
  punctatus, 
  SchalL, 
  Pterostichus 
  tnelaSy 
  

   Creutz, 
  Amara 
  apricaria, 
  Payk., 
  Ophonus 
  pubescens, 
  MiilL, 
  0. 
  griseus, 
  

   Pz., 
  0. 
  calceatus, 
  Duft., 
  and 
  Harpalus 
  psittaceus, 
  Fourc, 
  all 
  of 
  which, 
  

   both 
  in 
  their 
  adult 
  and 
  larval 
  stages, 
  destroy 
  the 
  larvae 
  and 
  pupae 
  of 
  

   B. 
  punctiventris 
  ; 
  (3) 
  another 
  beetle, 
  Hister 
  fimetarius, 
  Hbst. 
  ; 
  (4) 
  

   birds, 
  such 
  as 
  rooks 
  (Corvus 
  frugilegus) 
  and 
  some 
  species 
  of 
  bustards. 
  

   In 
  the 
  stomach 
  of 
  a 
  rook, 
  examined 
  by 
  Terestchenko 
  on 
  the 
  evening 
  of 
  

   20th 
  April 
  1905 
  (the 
  first 
  warm 
  day 
  when 
  the 
  beetles 
  started 
  leaving 
  

   their 
  holes), 
  there 
  were 
  found 
  133 
  proboscides 
  of 
  B. 
  punctiventris, 
  1 
  

   undamaged 
  specimen 
  of 
  Poecilus 
  cupreus, 
  2 
  specimens 
  of 
  Hister 
  sp., 
  

   and 
  13 
  wheat 
  grains 
  ; 
  (5) 
  some 
  parasitic 
  worms 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Mermis 
  

   and 
  microscopic 
  Ascaridae. 
  

  

  The 
  activity 
  of 
  all 
  these 
  animal 
  enemies 
  of 
  B. 
  punctiventris 
  is, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  insufficient 
  to 
  check 
  its 
  multipHcation. 
  A 
  more 
  important 
  part 
  

   is 
  played 
  in 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  this 
  pest 
  by 
  various 
  parasitic 
  fungi, 
  

   which 
  provoke 
  the 
  muscardine 
  disease 
  amongst 
  the 
  larvae, 
  pupae 
  and 
  

   imagines, 
  from 
  20 
  to 
  80 
  per 
  cent, 
  perishing 
  from 
  this 
  disease 
  in 
  different 
  

   years, 
  it 
  being 
  more 
  prevalent 
  in 
  the 
  years 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  weevils 
  are 
  

   most 
  numerous. 
  The 
  author 
  deals 
  very 
  fully 
  with 
  the 
  various 
  forms 
  

   of 
  this 
  disease 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  many 
  experiments 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  

   undertaken 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  infect 
  the 
  pests 
  with 
  it. 
  He 
  describes 
  the 
  

   " 
  green 
  muscardine," 
  so 
  called 
  by 
  Metchnikov, 
  produced 
  by 
  the 
  fungi 
  

   Oospora 
  destructor, 
  Metchn., 
  Entomophthora 
  anisopliae, 
  Metchn., 
  and 
  

   Isaria 
  destructor, 
  Metchn., 
  and 
  the 
  " 
  red 
  muscardine 
  " 
  produced 
  by 
  

   Sorosporella 
  uvella 
  ; 
  both 
  these 
  diseases 
  attack 
  all 
  the 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  

   beetle, 
  except 
  the 
  egg. 
  There 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  " 
  white 
  muscardine 
  " 
  provoked 
  

   by 
  the 
  fungus 
  Botrytis 
  hassiana, 
  which, 
  according 
  to 
  Krassiltchik, 
  

   attacks 
  the 
  imago 
  of 
  B. 
  punctiventris, 
  while 
  he 
  was 
  not 
  able 
  to 
  detect 
  

   it 
  on 
  the 
  larvae 
  or 
  pupae 
  of 
  this 
  insect. 
  Attempts 
  were 
  made 
  at 
  

   Smiela, 
  by 
  Krassiltchik 
  in 
  1884 
  and 
  by 
  Danysz 
  in 
  1900, 
  to 
  disseminate 
  

   these 
  diseases 
  artificially, 
  but 
  without 
  success. 
  Toporkov, 
  in 
  dis- 
  

   cussing 
  these 
  experiments, 
  has 
  suggested 
  that 
  only 
  green 
  muscardine 
  

   should 
  be 
  used, 
  as 
  the 
  white 
  form 
  does 
  not 
  develop 
  well 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  of 
  the 
  

   government 
  of 
  Kiev 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  further 
  recommended 
  that 
  the 
  infection 
  

   should 
  be 
  induced 
  by 
  sowing 
  the 
  spores 
  of 
  muscardine 
  in 
  the 
  earth 
  

   together 
  with 
  the 
  seeds 
  of 
  beetroots, 
  for 
  which 
  purpose 
  the 
  seeds 
  must 
  

   be 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  powder 
  of 
  the 
  spores, 
  about 
  10 
  lb. 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  being 
  

   used 
  for 
  approximately 
  \\ 
  cwt. 
  of 
  seeds. 
  However, 
  the 
  experiments 
  

   undertaken, 
  by 
  Toporkov 
  failed, 
  as 
  did 
  also 
  some 
  other 
  experiments 
  

   at 
  the 
  Station 
  in 
  Smiela. 
  The 
  author 
  urges 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  further 
  

   investigations, 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  direction 
  as 
  to 
  show 
  which 
  micro-organisms 
  

   and 
  which 
  of 
  their 
  stages 
  are 
  active 
  destroyers 
  of 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  

   B. 
  punctiventris 
  ; 
  what 
  are 
  the 
  natural 
  conditions 
  favouring 
  the 
  spread 
  

   of 
  the 
  disease 
  ; 
  how 
  long 
  the 
  micro-organisms 
  retain 
  their 
  activity 
  *, 
  

   and 
  how 
  deep 
  they 
  must 
  be 
  buried 
  in 
  the 
  earth. 
  With 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  

   first 
  of 
  these 
  questions 
  the 
  author 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  P. 
  Buchner 
  

   on 
  Symbions 
  (" 
  Studien 
  an 
  intracellularen 
  Symbionten," 
  Arch. 
  f. 
  

   Protistenkunde, 
  xxvi, 
  1912) 
  and 
  suggests 
  that 
  probably 
  Oospora 
  

   destructor 
  is 
  a 
  symbion, 
  producing 
  mycelium 
  only 
  in 
  larvae 
  Uving 
  in 
  

   unfavourable 
  conditions. 
  The 
  author 
  has 
  also 
  found 
  some 
  diseased 
  

  

  (C20) 
  D 
  2 
  

  

  