138 
ZOOLOGY: C. T. BRUES 
There seems to be no doubt that the behavior of these Hymenoptera 
in attaching themselves to the body of the locust is for the purpose of 
finding the eggs of the host more readily and it seems strange that the 
same method has not been adopted by other egg parasites. Possibly 
other large insects do not lend themselves so readily to this purpose, 
and it may be noted in this connection that both species of locusts which 
have been found with attached parasites are forms which do not have 
fully developed wings or tegmina in the female. Winged species might 
more easily disturb the parasites which cling only by the mandibles, 
and on account of their rapid movements might more easily evade the 
parasites. 
In other groups of insects and also among Arachnids, there are familiar 
examples of small species which attach themselves to larger insects 
for the apparent purpose of transportation only. Thus certain mites 
are regularly found on the body of the housefly and similar flies, which 
presumably afford a convenient vehicle for migration, and also prob- 
ably a source of food while in transit. In the case of certain mites of 
the genus Greenia which occur on large oriental bees (Xylocopa) a very 
peculiar relation exists between the two as the mites occupy a pocket 
in the basal segment of the bee's abdomen. Here, however, it has 
been assumed that the mites feed upon the pollen which adheres to 
the body of the bee.^ Certain myrmecophilous beetles (e.g. Thorictus) 
regularly travel attached to the antennae of the ants, and similarly 
the remarkable myrmecophilous cockroaches of the genus Attaphila 
commonly travel on the bodies of the leaf-cutter ants with which they 
live. 
The attachment by the mandibles of the small Scelionids described 
in the present note suggests strongly that they may secure nourishment 
by sucking the juices of the locust. If such be the case, the phenomenon 
is interesting in connection with the fact that many minute parasitic 
Hymenoptera regularly feed upon the drop of liquid which exudes 
from the puncture made by the ovipositor when they deposit their 
eggs in the eggs or larvae of the host. In this case the feeding precedes 
the act of oviposition and bears no direct relation to it since Scelionids 
are parasitic upon the eggs and not the imagines of the locust. 
It seems probable that the Scelionid belongs to the genus Lepidoscelio 
Kieffer^ which is based upon a species from Madagascar. As the t3^e 
specimen of Kieffer's species had lost its antennae and as the postscutel- 
lar scale appears to be less highly developed in the Indian species, I 
cannot feel sure that the two forms are congeneric. 
