56 
DR ALFRED E. CAMERON. 
taken from Glover’s Meadow and in 1 of the 14 from the Alluvial Pasture. Three 
species of sawfly, 2 cocoons and 1 larva, 2 specimens of an adult Ichneumon 
( Hemiteles necator), and 1 specimen of an adult Braconid ( Blacus ruficornis) repre- 
sented the sum-total of Hymenoptera, all taken in 4 samples (Table X, examples 
1, 3, 4, 7) from Glover’s Meadow. Hemiptera, except for the occurrence of the 
remains of the 7 specimens of Schizoneura sp. in sample No. 6 of the Alluvial 
Pasture, were entirely lacking. This circumstance would tend to show that the 
grassland Hemiptera winter in the egg stage, which may have been overlooked. Of 
course, it is possible that they betake themselves to winter quarters elsewhere, or, 
perhaps, in an alternate form ( Aphidas ), migrate to other plant species outside the 
grassland association. The Apterygota were fairly well represented, considering the 
location of the two fields and the size of the samples investigated. Being principally 
humus-feeders, the species of this order are generally associated with decaying 
vegetable substance. They occurred in 2 Glover’s samples and in 6 of the Alluvial. 
It was at first thought that some degree of relationship might be discovered 
between certain of the phytophagous soil insects of the two grasslands and some of the 
plant species existing therein ; but for definite and conclusive results, it is recognised 
that a more restricted analysis would be necessary. In meadows and pastures-, 
with their heterogeneous mixture of grasses and weeds, it is extremely difficult 
to diagnose the constancy, or otherwise, of the feeding habits of any one species, 
especially if it be graminophilous and also polytrophic. Again, many forms that find 
nourishment in the roots of grass will subsist equally well on those of various weeds. 
The samples taken from the Alluvial Pasture, in which perennial rye-grass 
(Lolium perenne) predominated or was common, generally yielded several specimens 
of Cecidomyiidse (C. destructor , L. auricincta), Bibionidse ( B . Marci), and Tipulidse 
( T . oleracea) ; but, probably, according to the evidence as obtained from Glover’s 
Meadow samples, L. auricincta is equally attached to sheep’s fescue ( Festuca ovina). 
General conclusions, however, are difficult to establish. In sample No. 4 (Table XI) 
none of the insect species of the families above mentioned -were taken, and in sample 
No. 12 only 2 Cecidomyiidse occurred. A greater or less degree of association could 
be traced between the numbers of species of these same families and the relative 
abundance of perennial rye-grass in Glover’s Meadow, but in sample No. 1 (Table X), 
where the only grass was Yorkshire fog ( Holcus lanatus), both Cecidomyiidas and 
Tipulidse are represented; whereas, in sample No. 5, with perennial rye-grass pre- 
dominant, no specimens of either family were present. 
It may be interesting to mention here that the larvae of Bibio Marci and Tipula 
oleracea, especially the younger stage forms, more often than not occurred 
gregariously, which socialistic mode of existence — a phase of the phenomenon of 
what Dewitz calls stereotropism * — seems to be the result of a response to the 
stimulus of contact between larvae of the same species. 
* Dewitz, J., “The Bearing of Physiology on Economic Entomology,” Bull. Ent. Res., v ol. iii, pt. 4, p. 345. 
