Note on " Leptus phalangii" and " Leptus autumnalis." 101 



or five days over 200 tiny scarlet larvae were running about in the tube. 

 These larvae were unlike figures of the " Leptus autumnalis " or harvest-bug — 

 the reputed larval form of Trombidium holosericeum — which 1 had seen, 

 and agreed perfectly with the figures of T. holosericeum larvae recently 

 hatched and figured by Dr George (see The Naturalist, Dec. 1908, p. 452). 

 To test them for harvest-bugs, I first placed a few on my arm and watched 

 them through a magnifying glass for a considerable time without seeing 

 them make any attempt to penetrate the skin. I next put a number inside 

 one of my stockings and tied it below the knee ; but, although the stocking 

 was worn continuously for four days, no " bites " were experienced. It can 

 hardly be that I am a bad subject for the experiment, for I never visit 

 certain parts of East Lothian at the proper season without suffering more or 

 less from the attacks of the " berry-bug " as the pest is there called. Most 

 of the larvae left in the tube survived for five or six weeks and then suddenly 

 died. A small Phalangid put beside them did not seem to stimulate their 

 parasitic instinct. In this district Trombidium holosericeum is, according to 

 my experience, much more widely distributed than the annoying harvest-bug. 



Likely enough the larval or hexapod stages of several closely allied 

 mites are included under the name Leptus autumnalis ; but, for the reasons 

 mentioned above, I have formed the opinion that the larva of T. holosericeum 

 is not one of them. Further research, however, is needed to settle the point. 



I may add that a female Ottonia conifera — a Trombidiid recently described, 

 along with several others, by Dr George in The Naturalist from specimens 

 taken by me in the Forth Area — captured at Bavelaw Moss on 5th May 



1909, laid 70-80 eggs on 29th May, which hatched on and about 1st July. 

 While bearing a general resemblance to those of T. holosericeum, and like 

 them very active, these larvae were distinctly different both in shape and 

 colour, being in the latter respect pale yellow in place of red. A young 

 Phalangid (Oligolophus agrestis) offered as a " host " did not appear to have 

 any attractions for them. 



Postscript. — Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, who presided at the meeting at 

 which the above was read, has called my attention to a short paper by L. 

 Bruyant (Gomptes Bendus Soc. Biol., Paris, torn, lxvii., No. 26, 23 July 1909, 

 pp. 207-9), in which he reports that eggs of Tr. holosericeum produced larvae 

 which were identified as the Allotrombidium striaticeps, Oudemans. A 

 further paper by M. Bruyant [Zool. Anzeiger, Bd. xxxv., No. 11, 18th January 



1910, pp. 347-352) on Trombidiid larvae, has been brought to my notice by 

 Dr J. H. Ashworth ; and in The Naturalist of 1st March, Dr George gives 

 figures of one of my Ottonia conifera larvae. 



{Issued separately, 23rd May 1910.) 



