82 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



moned, that the ichneumon itself is of 

 some interest. 



Besides the parasites, there are 

 many matters appertaining to the 

 larva? that are little known to Entomo- 

 logists, and require elucidation. Who for 

 instance knows, from their own observa- 

 tion, the difference between the larvae of 

 P. rapes and napi. We confess we do 

 not, nor do we know the usual food of the 

 latter species. We once saw the female 

 deposit her ova on a species of wild cress, 

 but the larvae all died. Of many larva? 

 there are two forms, such for instance as 

 those of M. galathea and T. W-alhnn. 

 Are the two colours a sexual difference, or 

 distinctive of age, as in C. porcelliis ? Do 

 departures from the normal form in the 

 larva produce a similar departure in the 

 imago ? 



We also propose to give attention to the 

 subject of variation, in the hope that we 

 may help to throw some light on its cause 

 and extent. Much care has been taken 

 on the continent to give well marked 

 varieties of regular occurrence, distinguish- 

 ing names by which collectors may recog- 

 nize them, and thus the range of variation 

 there is better understood. Here we not 

 only confine our collections mainly to 

 British specimens of British species, but 

 few have even troubled to name their 

 varieties as they are named in Europe. 

 In consequence of this it is scarcely known 

 which of the continental varieties occur 

 in England, and like the man who had 

 been talking prose all his life without 

 knowing it, many of our collectors 

 have never known that they have been 

 taking varieties all their lives. Some 



few, more conspicuous forms, that were 

 formerly believed to be distinct, are known 

 here by name, as for instance Helice, 

 Valezina, and Artaxerxes, but who knows 

 Pamphilus, rar. Lyllus, ffyperanthus, van 

 Arele, or Alexis, var. Iearinus, all of which 

 we have reason to believe are far from 

 uncommon. Some species appear to vary 

 according to latitude, or from the general 

 character of the locality ; others from 

 no known cause. In some cases there are 

 two forms of the imago. Besides Helice 

 already named there is a pale form of the 

 ! female of Hyale. M. galathea occurs with 

 ; white ground instead of the usual cream 

 colour. Is this a local form or an oc- 

 casional aberration ? We once had a box 

 of white Galathea sent us, but did not 

 then pay much attention to such peculi- 

 i arities, nor did we trouble to label com- 

 mon species, so that now when we want 

 to know, we cannot find out where they 

 came from. M. art ° mis varies in every 

 locality we are acquainted with. Irish 

 specimens are very richly coloured. South 

 of England specimens are much more uni- 

 form in hue than those from the north. 

 To help to an understanding of these 

 matters we intend to refer to the range 

 of the various species abroad, and its 

 variation there ; to give very brief des- 

 criptions of all named and well recognized 

 varieties, carefully keeping distinct those 

 known to be British ; and to refer also to 

 closely allied species when there seems an 

 advantage in doing so. 



The Life Histories will be fully illus- 

 trated with the figures of the insects 

 themselves, and whenever they can be 

 shown without the aid of colour, figures 



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