THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 149 



lobes, the middle one of which is notched; between each two 

 segments is a transverse skinfold, almost amounting to an 

 intervening segment. The appearance of the larva is strictly 

 maggot-like ; the colour transparent white, with a reddish 

 brown median shade, which is probably due to the presence 

 of food in the intestinal canal : it has six transparent legs, 

 but no claspers. The mass of snow-white froth exuding from 

 the stalk of the fern is frequently an inch and a half in length, 

 and as thick as one's finger. — E. Newman. 



Parasite on Prawns. — In a dish of prawns 1 have just 

 found several w^ith a kind of tumour at the side of the head, 

 similar to those which I herewith enclose ; and, as I am 

 much surprised to find such an appearance or disease, 

 I should like to learn from vou whether it is natural to them ; 

 and, if not, whether there would be harm likely to arise from 

 eating them. — A. F. 



[The name of this curious parasite is Bopyrus Squillarum : 

 it is common to all the species of prawns (Palaemon) and 

 shrimps (Crangon), and is sometimes so abundant on the 

 shrimp that it is next to impossible to find a single individual 

 not thus infested. In eating shrimps it is usual to take off 

 the carapace or hard anterior case, and the Bopyrus is then 

 left adhering to the body, and, rarely being observed, is 

 eaten without hesitation : it is perfectly innocuous, or the 

 large quantity thus consumed must occasionally have pro- 

 duced ill effects on the consumer, which certainly is not the 

 case. — E. Newman.^ 



Captures at Bury St. Edmunds. — On the 8th of June 

 five other entomologists and myself took, in four hours, 

 seventy A. sulphuralis and forty- two L. nivearia, also three 

 H. dipsaceus, three H. ahenella, and one H. unca. — W. H, 

 Cole ; School Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, June 13, 1870. 



Breeze or Gadfly of the Ox. — Enclosed is an insect which 

 was found feeding under the skin of a cow's back; the place 

 was inflamed for several inches round. Could you give the 

 name and habits of it, and also state whether it is injurious 

 or beneficial to cattle ? — John TJiorpe ; Middleion, near 

 Manchester, May 31, 1870. 



[It is the larva of the gadfly of the ox ((Estrus Bovis) : its 

 habit of persecuting cattle, for the purpose of depositing eggs 

 on their backs, has been known in all ages, and the effect on 



