THE YOUNG N"ATURA.LlSr. 



1(5. 



r>f the Latins. I can also merely touch upon 

 insects occurring commonly in my own imme- 

 diate county, and select them regardless of 

 Drder or generic regularity. 



Pimpla Instigator. Pz. 

 Of the genus Pimpl.i (Fab.) there are several 

 species distinguished from others by having 

 the hinder cox.e (thighs) black. Instigator is one 

 of these. The body, thorax, abdomen, oviposi- 

 or. and antennae are all of a bright black 

 color, whilst the legs are reddish, and tinged 

 with black in certain parts. The ovipositor, 

 or dagger, is very short, and composed (like 

 others) of three distinct pieces, the centre one 

 — a tube, through which the eggs are forced, 

 and the outer ones acting in the capacity of 

 protecting sheaths. To the naked eye the 

 wing of a Pimpia is only a beautifully tinged 

 bit of transparent stuff, intersected with 

 nerves. But look at it through the micro- 

 scope, and with what remarkable results ! 

 Take, for example, the top, or anterior wing. 



a b 



Fig. 46. Fore wing of Pimpla, a stigma, b. 

 areolot. 



It is covered with little hairs attached 

 o the membrane of the wing by small 

 globular discs. The base, or oval, faces 

 the body or thorax, tbe point usually pointing 

 out to the hind extremities. The number of 

 these markings may be imagined when I 

 inform you that in the areolet alone of in- 

 stigator there are over forty lines, excluding 

 those which proceed from the nerves. I 

 attempted to count the stigma marks, and 



arrived at the number of 200 when arithmetic 

 broke down. From what I learn Instigator 

 is not sfo abundant down South as it is in the 

 North. I have noticed it flitting about the 

 hedgerows (especially bordering continuous 

 fields) wherever I have collected, gtt occurs 

 from April to August, and is parasitic upon 

 many of the Lepidopterus larvae, which feed 

 in these months, dwelling with equal avidity 

 upon Nocturni, Geometry, or Noctua, Dr. Vol- 

 lenhoven calls it a polyphagous insect, and it 



: is doubtless a rank destroyer. I have bred it 

 out of Sclenia lunar ia, Oloncstis potatoria, and 

 A:ro::y;ta rumicis. It also infests, I believe, 

 Liparis chrysorrhcea. Curious to relate all 1 

 have reare 1 bore in the males the excessive 



I proportion of 10 to 1 in the females, and have 

 generally appeared respectively by them- 

 ■ Thus say twenty cocoons produced a 



number of males, whilst another batch pro- 

 duced a few females, the remaining cocoons 

 being infertile; perhaps my experience, not a 

 large one, is peculiar. The females are more 

 prone to variation in size, and they are very 

 fine insects. I have before me at this moment 

 a very curious male, which seems to be incom- 

 plete in form, though it was a very lively 

 gentleman in the pupa cage. The sides of 

 the abdomen are of a yellowish and prettily 

 arranged color, whilst the dorsal segments are 

 black. Hot weather I surmised induced the 

 insect to anticipate Nature's permission. So 

 much for Pimpla instigator, one of the finest of 

 the genus. 



To be continaed. 



COLLECTING 

 HARTLEPOOL. 



A T 



By John E. Robson. 

 Mr. Moseley's paper on Sherwood Forest 

 having created some little interest, I have been 

 asked to write one on Collecting at Hartle- 

 pool, with a description of our ground and 

 an account of what we take. Walk with 

 me then from the town northward. We 



