COLEOPTERA. 
271 
PYRRHOCHROAOiE. 
Ferrari (Verb. Zool.-Bot. Gesellsch. in Wien, Band xix. p. 198) gives a 
table of tbe species of the genera Dendroides (Lat.) and Pogonocerus (Fisch.). 
Dendroides {Ilemidendroides) ledereri, sp. n., Ferrari, 1. c. p. 195, Smyrna. 
MoRDELLIDiE. 
Mordellistena brevicauda (Boh.) is recorded as British by Rye (Ent. Mo. 
Mag. vi. p. 86), who refers to its specific characters. 
Crotch (Entom. 69, ii.) notes the habits of Mordellistena pumiluj the larva 
of which lives in the stems of Silencin corn-fields. 
V. Heyden (Berl. ent. Zeit. xiii. p. 68) reproduces Frivaldszky’s descrip- 
tion of Mordella sackeri (Abh. d. ungar. Acad. 1866, p. 202, t. xi. fig. 6). 
RhIPIPHORIDtE. 
Murray (Ann. & Mag. of Nat. Hist. 4th ser. iv. pp. 346-355) records 
his examination of wasp -combs containing Rhipiphorus paradoxus, the result 
being that he thinks Stone (Ent. Monthly Mag. i. p. 118) mistaken in his 
very decided statement of having actually seen the R4^/)^)?Aor^/s-larva in the 
act of devouring the wasp-larva. lie thinks the skin and mandibles, which 
Stone states not to be devoured, were the cast skin of a larva, and considers 
the circumstance of his finding in three instances two pupae (of Rhipiphorm 
and wasp) in the same cell conclusive against the idea of one feeding on the 
other. Murray adheres to the old supposition that the Rhipiphori are bred 
by the wasps under the mistaken belief that they are their own progeny. 
Smith ( 1. c. pp. 393-397) shows that Stone’s observations were not founded 
on one instance, as inferred by Murray’s remarks, and accounts for the two 
pupae being in one cell by showing that parasites frequently fail to destroy 
the vitality of their prey. He is decidedly of opinion that the Rhipi- 
phorus lives entirely on wasp-larvae. In Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1869, p. xxiv, 
Smith makes some further observations to the same effect. 
Meloid^e. 
Fumouze (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 4® s^r. ix. Bull. p. xxx) has made an analysis 
with a view to determining the vesicant properties of certain insects belong- 
ing to the genera 3Iylahris and Meloe, with the result that Mylahis sides, 
known as the Chinese Cantharis,” contains as much cantharidine as the 
Cantharis of commerce, and can therefore be substituted for the latter in 
the Pharmacopoeia. The species of Meloe appear, however, to be by far the 
richest in vesicant matter of all insects upon which he has experimented, 
often containing, as stated, crystals of cantharidine visible to the naked 
eye, and, at all events, more than doubling C. vesicatoria in quantity of active 
principle. 
Smith (Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1869, p. xiv) records the capture of Mclecta 
armata (a bee parasitic upon AnthopJiora) covered by about 300 or 400 
larvfe of Meloe, on 6th of June, 1869. He also {1. c. p. xx) notes the capture 
of Meloe rugosa (Marsh.), and the excessive pugnacity of that insect, even 
after the deposition of ova by the females. 
Riley (First Ann. Rep. nox. Ins. Missouri, 1869, p. 97 ct seq,) figures 
and describes the habits of Lytta vittata, cinerea, and marginata (Fab.), and 
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