398 
THE GIANT ICHNEUMON. 
In the genus Cimbex, of which an example is given in the illustration, the larvge possess 
twenty-two feet, and have the power of discharging a translucent greenish fluid from certain 
pores placed on the sides of 
the body just above the spir- 
acles. This feat they can 
.repeat six or seven times in 
succession. When they have 
eaten their way to the next 
stage of existence, they spin 
a cocoon of a brownish color 
and of a stringy, tough con- 
sistency, and either suspend 
it to the branches of a tree 
on which they have been 
feeding, or hide it under 
fallen leaves. In this cocoon 
they remain for a compara- 
tively short time, and then 
emerge as perfect insects. 
Cimbex femor&ta. Urbcerus gigas. q-n , , .'i l m 
Bhyssa persuasdria. Ichneumon grossdrius. liie TeillDie 1URNIP-FLY 
(. Athalia centif olice ) belongs 
to this family. The larva of this species is popularly called the Nigger, on account of its 
black color. Our engraving shows the insect in both its stages of development. A very small 
species of Athalia is called Athalia spinarum. Its larva feeds upon the various cabbages, 
eating away the whole of the soft green parts of the leaves, and only rejecting the thick 
nervures. It makes no cocoon, but retires into the ground, excavates a kind of oval cell, 
which it lines with a slimy substance, and there awaits its final change. 
The well-known black Gooseberry-fly ( Nematus grossuldrice) is another of the Saw- 
flies. Its larva, so destructive to the fruit, is blackish-gray. These tiresome creatures are 
often seen in great numbers, more than a thousand having been taken on a single goose- 
TURNIP-FLY . — Athalia centifolice. (Natural size.) 
berry-bush, and there are two broods in the course of a year. Without going into further 
details, it is sufficient to say that there is hardly a plant without its especial Saw-fly, and 
that any one who can discover a really effectual mode of checking their ravages, will confer 
no slight benefit on mankind. 
The fine insect in the illustration at top of this page, which is known by the name of the 
Giant Ichneumon ( Ichneumon grossdrius ), is an example of the next family, in which the 
ovipositor is converted into a gimlet instead of a double saw. With this powerful instrument, 
