NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



821 



In the pulp of the fruit of Zizyphus Spina- Christi Willd. lived the 

 larvee of a beetle belonging to the Curculionidce. 



Industrial plants : The seeds of Acacia spirocarpa ? a gum-pro- 

 ducing plant, were bored by Mylahris (Bruchus) albosparsa Fahrs? 



The wood of the gunimiferous Acacia Seyal Del. contains a beetle of 

 the Cure ul ion id a>, which can live for several weeks. 



The fruits, as large as an acorn of Quercus Cerris L., of Balanites 

 agyptiaca Del. were much destroyed by a Microlepidopterous insect. 



The seeds of Cassia occidentalis L. ? were inhabited throughout the 

 summer by the beetle Caryoborus pallidas 01. The insect went through 

 its transformations inside curious little ovoid, whitish follicles, which were 

 either isolated or attached to the seeds. Through these transparent 

 follicles minute Acari could be seen rapidly running about over the 

 bodies of both larva and nymph. The adult insect has a curious swelling 

 on the hind femora resembling that of jumping insects ; but it does not 

 jump. 



The seeds of Cassia Tora L. contain the cocoons of a Microlepidopterous 

 insect. 



In the epidermis of the gourd-like fruit of Kigelia a-thiopica Decne. 

 are a number of holes, each closed by a little lid, and giving entrance to 

 a small silk-lined cavity or cell, inhabited by the chrysalis of some moth ; 

 but in June the inhabitant had already escaped. 



The seeds of Coffca arabica L. are also injured by insects. 



If. C. W. 



Insects, The Principal, of 1903. By F. H. Chittenden (U.S.A. 

 Dep. Agr. Year Book, 1903, p. 568). — An admirable report is given upon 

 this important subject. As regards Apples, the Bucculatrix, the maggot, 

 and the plant-lice are mentioned as having been very injurious. Also the 

 Grape-berry moth, leaf-hoppers, and rootworms. As to the San Jose 

 scale, it is said that, although still the subject of many remedial 

 experiments, this scale appears to be gradually attracting less attention 

 year by year, partly due to its beccming better known as a pest, and 

 partly to the more general use of remedies ; perhaps also to the fact 

 that these remedies are having a material effect in reducing the numbers 

 of this, one of the most troublesome of orchard pests. — V. J. M. 



Iris Bismarckiana. By C. H. Wright (Bot. Mag. t. 7986).— Native 

 of Palestine. Nat. ord. Iridacere ; tribe, Morczecp,. A perennial herb 

 18 inches high. Scape 1 -flowered ; perianth segments, outer broadly ovate, 

 2J inches long, yellowish, densely spotted with purple-brown ; inner 

 orbicular, 2| inches diam., pale blue with lilac veins, spotted towards the 

 margin. — G. H. 



Iris Haynei. By G. B. M. (Gard. Chron. No. 904, p. 266, Supp. 

 fig., April 23, 1904). — A very fine new species recently imported from 

 Palestine, belonging to the Oncocyclus group. It has " leaves about a 

 foot long, and stems 18 inches or 2 feet high, bearing magnificent silky- 

 looking flowers, measuring 6 inches from the tip of the standard to the 

 tips of the falls. All the petals are broad and wavy at the margins, the 

 standards being coloured blue-purple and grey in various shades." " The 



