PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
55 
A few days spent at Killarney returning, (in the first week in August), 
afforded little to note. Aedes cinereus occurred again, chiefly in a disused swampy 
gravel-pit, at the entrance of the causeway which leads to Dinis island. Leja 
pulchella on umbelliferous flowers by the road below Tore mountain, where it was 
first found by Mr. Curtis. Brachystoma longicornis, Diadocidia ferruginosa, 
Mycetobia pallipes, Dolichopus discifer, atratus, atripes, terosus. Sphegina 
clunipes, and Peplomyza litura, not unusual in the woods; Leiopus nebulosus and 
Strangalia armata. Othius pilicornis (first found here by Mr. Furlong), under 
bark of felled pines, with Rhizophagus cribratus (?). Ocypus olens was in unusual 
abundance. Ascending Mangerton, by Glen-na-cappul, a white-flowered variety 
of Pedicularis palustris was observed, not rare, on the hill side, east of the middle 
lake of the glen ; and near the precipitous masses of rock which guard the upper 
outlet, dripping with moisture, and tufted with Sedum rhodiola and other Alpine 
plants, Leistus spinilabris occurred, at an elevation of more than 2,000 feet. On 
the summit of the mountain, enveloped in a cold, driving mist, Leistus montanus 
was sought in vain on this occasion, only Nebria nivalis and Lathrobium elongatum 
occurring under stones resting on the black peat. A walk up the gap of Dunlo 
afforded an apterous Aphis, at the roots of Ranunculus flammula, in such plenty 
that the ground seemed sprinkled with little flocks of bluish-white wool; and the 
banks of a rivulet, near the Black Lakes, produced Cryptostemma alienum.* 
About the rocks in the upper lake some specimens of a Halithea were observed, but 
the ticklish footing did not admit of their capture. This genus is usually confined to 
the sea coast, so that the attention of other visitors is invited to determine what 
species it is which frequents the lake. 
Mr. Wright read the following paper 
ON FUNGI PARASITIC ON INSECTS ; WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO SOME 
LATELY DISCOVERED IRISH SPECIMENS. 
WITH A PLATE. 
While it often happens that insects are parasitical on plants, and while they are 
frequently reared from the egg to the perfect state in the leaves and fruits of trees, 
so, as it were in turn, plants often grow parasitically on insects, in either the larval 
or perfect state. Even were I competent for the task, the rules of this Association— 
not being a botanical one—would prevent me from drawing more than a passing 
attention to the plants which are found attached to insects; and I shall, therefore, pro¬ 
ceed only to give a brief outline of those insects which have been found thus invested. I 
shall narrate them in order of their classes, giving the most conspicuous of the 
insects in each class. Those that would wish for further details can consult O. F. 
Muller, on plants parasitic on insects, Dr. Mitchell’s paper in Silliman’s American 
Journal, or vol. 2 of a History of Insects, published in the “ Family Library.” 
To begin with the 
HYMENOPTERA. 
The earliest account, I think, on record, is one given by Father Torrubia, in 
u Apparato Para la Histoira Naturale Espaniola,” published in Madrid in the year 
1754. The Spanish author tells us that, being at a gentleman’s seat, two leagues 
from the City of the Havanna, in New Spain, on the 10th of February, 1749, he 
found some wasps in the fields (however, they were entire—the bodies, wings, and 
all—and, indeed, were perfect skeletons) ; from the belly of each wasp a plant ger¬ 
minated, which grew about five spans long. The natives call this plant “ Gia 
and as it is full of sharp prickles, their vulgar notion is, that the said prickles owe 
their growth to the bellies of the wasps. Father Torrubia further informs us, that 
he made microscopical and other observations upon them ; but, for some inexpli¬ 
cable reason, of this, the most important part, we get no details. The sketch ex¬ 
hibited is taken from his fourteenth plate. Edwards, in his history of rare and 
undescribed animals, published in London about 1763, gives a copy of these wasps 
in a corner of one of his plates of birds, and makes the following remarks upon 
Figured (Dipsocoris alienus). 
