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ON THE MOUTH OF THE LARVA OF CHRYSOPA. 

 (Bead before the A. A, A. S., at Montreal.) 



By William Saunders, London, Ont. 



Recently I had the opportunity of watching in a live box, under a low power of the 

 microscope, the seizing and devouring of some plant-lice by a larva of an undetermined 

 species of Chrysopa, and was interested in the manner in which it emptied the body of its 

 victims. The jaws are large, hooked, pointed, and tubular; with a small opening at or 

 near the points. Approaching its prey the body of the Aphis is grasped by the hooked 

 mandibles which at the same time pierce it. The Chrysopa larva remains stationary, 

 and proceeds to pump its victim dry. At the base of each of the mandibles the integu- 

 ments are dilated into a sac-like form, capable of expansion and compression at will, a por- 

 tion of the thorax is similarly constructed, and it is by the repeated dilating and compres- 

 sing of these sacs that the fluid contents of the body of the Aphis are transferred through 

 the tubular mandibles to the stomach of the Chrysopa larva. 



When the abdomen of the Aphis has been emptied, the points of the mandibles of 

 the Chrysopa larva are thrust into the thorax, and forward into the head in every direc- 

 tion, and in a few moments nothing remains of the once plump plant louse but a shrivelled 

 skin. In the authors accessible to me, I can find no reference to these elastic bulb-like 

 sacs at the base of the mandibles, nor to the peculiar structure of the thorax, which admits 

 of its expansion and contraction as referred to. 



MOSS-HUNTING." 



By Professor J. T. Bell, Belleville, Ont. 



Having had several enquires addressed to me as to how I captured the Pselaphidse, 

 etc., a list of which appeared in the Entomologist of March, 1881, it has occurred to me 

 that it might be acceptable to some of my entomological brethren to have a detailed ac- 

 count of my method of moss-hunting published in our organ. 



First, then, as to gathering the moss. For pedestrian excursions, a gamebag or 

 haversack to sling over the shoulder, will be most convenient ; where a vehicle is employed, 

 a pillow case or grainbag may be used, and in either case a small hand rake about a foot 

 long will be found very useful. As soon as the snow leaves the ground, the collector may 

 seek some open swampy woods, where the ground is varied with little mounds by the 

 decay of fallen trees or the upturned roots of windfalls, which are overgrown with mixed 

 mosses, — or the banks of a pond or creek strewn with rotting logs and branches. The 

 moss should be taken up in large flakes, with as little disturbance as possible, and packed 

 tightly in the bag. It is of little use taking the moss which grows in thin sheets on the 

 stumps and trunks of trees, as few insects will be found in it ; and there isjone sort which 

 grows in compact oval bunches of a bright green, which I uniformly reject as barren. 

 The most productive is that which grows on the ground, and is not less than an inch in 

 length of stem. So long as the ground is clean of snow, a little frost is not objectionable, 

 but rather the reverse, as some of my most successful collecting was done when the moss 

 was pretty well frozen, and the pools were covered with ice strong enough to walk over ; 

 but, whatever may be the weather, the moss must be damp, — insects will not live in dry 

 moss. 



Having brought a cargo home, the next step is to get out its living treasures, for 

 which the following implements will be needed : 1. A sieve, which can be easily and cheaply 

 made as follows : A light wooden box about nine inches by seven inches may be had 

 at any drug store ; the bottom is knocked ofi" and replaced with a piece of wire-web of 

 four meshes to the linear inch ; the sides must be cut down with a fine saw to a depth of 

 three inches, and strips about half-an-inch wide nailed along the sides beneath the wire 

 to keep it from touching the table. 2. A sable or camel hair pencil of the size known as 



