THE

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OF

LONDON.

VOL. II.

'6r ': ' ^

/> V - Z

✓ J*

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY BY C. ROWORTII AND SONS,

BELL YARD, FLEET STREET.

SOLD BY LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMAN,

PATERNOSTER ROW.

AND J. B. BAILL1ERE, 219, REGENT STREET, AND RUE DE I.’ECOEE DK MEDECINE A TARIS.

1837—1840,

, ' ' V

M^Sec

CONTENTS

OF

VOLUME II.

Page.

PART I. 1837.

I. Some Account of the Habits of an East Indian Species of But-

terfly, belonging to the Genus Thecla. By J. O. Westwood,

F.L.S. &c 1

II. Description of a new Coleopterous Genus, belonging to the Tribe

Prionida, termed Torneutes. By G. Cn. Reich, M.D. &c. 9

III. Account of the Poma Sodomitica, or Dead-Sea Apples. By

Walter Elliott, Esq., M.E.S 14

IV. Descriptions of several new Species of Exotic Hemipterous In-

sects. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. &c 18

V. Remarks on the Turnip-Fly ( Haltica nemorum). By Henry Le

Keux, Esq 24

VI. Description of a new Irish Crustaceous Animal. By Robert

Templeton, Esq., R.A 34

VII. Notes respecting the Variety of the Silk- Worm which spins

white Silk. By W. Sells, Esq., M.E.S 40

VIII. On the Golofa Beetle of Venezuela and its allied Species. By

the Rev. F. W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S., &c 42

IX. Observations and Experiments for excluding the House and

other Flies from Apartments by means of Nets. By the

Rev. E. Stanley (now Bishop of Norwich) 45

X. Observations on Succinic Insects. By the Rev. F. W. Hope,

M.A., F.R.S., &c 46

XI. Description of Cucidlia Solidaginis, together with its larva. By

James Francis Stephens, Esq., P.E.S., F.L.S., &c. . . 57

XII. Notice of the Coleopterous Insects observed in the Scilly

Islands in July and August, IS36. By Frederick Holme,

Esq., M.A., M.E.S 58

IV

CONTENTS.

XIII. On the Domestic Habits of a minute Species of Ant. By J.

Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., &c 65

XIV. Descriptions of new Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera. By W. E.

Shuckard, Esq., V.P.E.S 68

Journal of Proceedings i

PART II. 1838.

XV. Descriptions of two Species of the Coleopterous Family Paus-

sidce. By W. W. Saunders, Esq., F. L.S., &c 83

XVI. Descriptions of some new or but imperfectly known Species

belonging to the Coleopterous Family Paussidce. By J. O.

Westwood, F.L.S 84

XVII. Note respecting the Larva; of Blaps Mortisaga. By Robert

Patterson, Esq., V.P. Nat. Hist. Soc. Belfast. With a De-

scription of the Larvae. By A. II. Haliday, Esq., M.A. . 99

XVIII. Some Account of the Genus Myocoris, of the Family Re-

duvini. By Dr. Hermann Burmeister, Fellow of the Na-

turalist Society of Berlin, For. M.E.S., &c. (Communicated

by J. O. Westwood.) 102

XIX. On the Ravages of the Turnip Fly (Haltica nemorum), with

Experiments. By T. S 108

XX. Description of a new Genus of Exotic Bees. By J. O. West-

avood, F.L.S 112

XXI. Description of a new Irish Crustaceous Animal. By Robert

Templeton, Esq., R.A 114

XXII. On the Apod Larvae of the Hymenoptera, with Reference to

the Segmental Theory of Annulose Animals. By J. O. West-

wood, F.L.S., &e 121

XXIII. Descriptions of some Species of Carabidce, collected by

Charles Darwin, Esq., in his late Voyage. By the Rev. F.

W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S., &c 128

XXIV. Descriptions of some of the Insects brought to this Country

by C. Darwin, Esq. By G. R. Waterhouse, Esq,, Curator

to the Zoological Society of London 131

XXV. Observations on the Habits of the Purple Emperor ( Apatura

Iris). By the late P. S. Pallas, M.D 136

XXVI. Synopsis of the Species belonging to the Genus Castnia.

By George Robert Gray, Esq., M.E.S 140

XXVII. Notice sur le Male de V Epoinidiopteron Julii. Par M. de

♦* Romand, de Tours, Chev. de Leg. d’Honneur, &e.) . . . 149

CONTENTS.

V

PART III. 1839.

Page.

XXVIII. Description of a new Genus of Dipterous Insects from

New South Wales. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S 151

XXIX. Notice of a Case in which the Larvae of a Dipterous Insect,

supposed to be the Anthomyia Canicularis (Meigen), were

expelled in large quantities from the human intestines ; ac-

companied by a Description of the same. By the Rev. Leo-

nard Jenyns, M.A., F.L.S., &c, 152

XXX. Observations upon the Economy of a South-American Species

of the Coleopterous Genus Upis, with a few Remarks upon Car-

pophagous Insects in general. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. 157

XXXT. Remarks upon the above paper. By W. Sells, Esq. M.E.S. 162

XXXII. Monograph upon the Hymenopterous Genus Scleroderma.

By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S 164

XXXIII. On the Notions entertained respecting the Emblem Sca-

rabaus. By the Rev. F. W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S. .... 172

XXXIV. Description of a new Genus of Coleopterous Insects from

Corfu. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S 174

XXXV. Description of six new East Indian Coleoptera. By W. W.

Saunders, Esq., F.L.S 176

XXXVI. Observations in support of the Opinion, that the Blatta,

or Cockroach, cannot be considered the same Insect as Oreb,

the Fly which humbled the pride of Pharaoh. By the Rev.

F. W. Hope, M.A,, F.R.S., &c 179

XXXVII. Notice of a minute Parasite inhabiting the Larva of the

Stylopidcc ; and upon the Animal produced from the Eggs of

Meloe. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S 184

XXXVIII. Descriptions of some new Species of Exotic Insects. By

G. R. Waterhouse, Esq., M.E.S. , Curator of the Zoological

Society 188

XXXIX. Observations upon the Chigoe , or Pulex Penetrans. By

W. Sells, Esq 196

Journal of Proceedings xxxix

PART IV. 1840.

XL. On the Characters of the Chigoe or Jigger. By J. O. West-

wood, F.L.S. &c. „ 199

XLI. Description of a minute Crustaceous Animal from the Island

of Mauritius. By Robert Templeton, Esq., R. A. . . . 203

VI

CONTENTS.

Page.

XLII. Notes respecting the Nest of Cteniza nidulans. By W. Sells,

Esq 207

XLIII. On some Doubts respecting the (Economy of Ants. By the

Rev. F.W. Hope 211

XLIV. On Caprification as practised upon the Figs in the South of

Europe and the Levant, with Descriptions of the Insects em-

ployed for that purpose ; and Observations upon the Agaon

Paradoxum of Dalman. By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S., &c. . 214

XLV. Descriptions of two new Coleopterous Insects, from the Col-

lection of Sir Patrick Walker. By G. R. Waterhouse, Esq.

Curator to the Museum of the Zoological Society .... 225

XLVI. On the Use of the Antennae of Insects. By George New-

port, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and V. P.

of the Entomological Society of London 229

XLVII. Memoir on the Genus Holoptilas. By J. O. Westwood,

F.L.S., &c 248

XL VIII. Notice of some Peculiarities observable in the Cornea of

the Eyes of certain Insects. By Robert J. Ashton, Esq. . 253

XLIX. On Insects and their Larvae occasionally found in the Hu-

man Body. By the Rev. F. W. Hope, F.R.S. and Pres.

Ent. Soc 256

Errata and Addenda 272

J ournal of Proceedings Ixix

Additions to the Library from the 31st December, 1836, to the

30th September, 1840 lxxxvii

Explanation of the Plates in V olume 1 1.

List of Members and Officers.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

plate.

I Thecla Isocrates described in Art. i.

II. Fig. 1-3. Torneutes pallidipennis

— 4 — 8. New exotic Hemiptera iv.

— 9, 10. Pupa of Eupl(ca and Chalcis Euplteee Journ.

III. — 1 — 3. Poma Sodomitica Art. iii.

— 4. Cynips insana

— 5. Ephialtes Sodomiticus

— 6, 7. Cucullia Solidaginis xi.

— 8. Curculio infested with fungus Journ.

IV. — 1 — 6. Transformations of the Turnip Fly Art. v.

— 7. Egg of Leucophasia Sinaps

— 8. Egg of Plusia gamma

V Anomalocera Pattersonii vi.

VI Golofa Porteri

VII Succinic insects

VIII New exotic Hymenoptera

IX. & X Species of Panssidie, &c.

XI. Fig. 1. Larva of Blaps mortisaga ,

— 2 — 6. Myocoris gracilis

— 7. Mesotrichia torrida

viii.

x.

xiv.

xv. & xvi,

xvii.

xviii.

XX.

XII Zoea Pattersonii .

XIII Species of Castnia

XIV. Fig. 1 — 8. Epomidiopteron Julii

— 9. Trichopsidea Qzstracea

— 10. Amauronia subcencea

— 11 — 18. Upis Morin

XV. — 1 — 8. Larva of Anthomyia Canicularis

— 10 — 12. Species of Scleroderma

— 13. Parasites of Stylops ^

— 14. Larva? of Meloe $

XVI New exotic Coleoptera .

XVII New exotic insects

XVIII Zeuxo IVestwoodiana ...

XIX Cteniza nidulans and nest

xxi.

xxvi.

xxvii.

xxviii.

xxxiv.

XXX.

xxix.

xxxii.

xxxvii.

xxxv.

xxxviii.

xli.

xlii.

PAOE.

1

9

18

vi.

14

17

17

57

vi.

24

34

34

35

42

47

68

. 83

99

102

112

114

140

149

151

174

157

152

164

184

176

188

203

207

Vlii EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE. PAGE.

XX. Fig. 1. Noctua (Xylophasia?) Ewingii Journ. lv.

— 2. Autumnal disease of flies Journ. lxiv.

. — 3. The Chigoe illustrated Art. xl. 199

— 4. Blastophaga Sycomori } xjvj 213

— 5. Sycophaga crassipes S

— 6. Chalcis pyramided 224

XXL — 1. Baladeva Walkeri xlv. 225

— 2 — 4. Eyes of insects xlviii. 253

XXII. — 1. Larva of (Estrus Rhinocerontis ^ jjx 256

— 2 — 5. Various intestinal larvse ‘

— 6 — 8. Species of Holnptilus xlvii. 248

LIST OF MEMBERS

(TO THE 31st OCTOBER, 1840.)

Those Persons to whose Names an Asterisk is 'prefixed are Original

Members.

HONORARY PRESIDENT.

♦The Reverend William Kirby, 1M.A. F.R.S. L.S. Soc. Nat. Scient. Berol.

et Css. Natur. Mosq. See. &c.

HONORARY ENGLISH MEMBER.

* William Spence, Esq. F.R.S. L.S. &c.

HONORARY” FOREIGN MEMBERS.

Audouin, M. Victor, Cheval. Leg. Honour, Professor at the Jardin des Plantes,

President of the Entomological Society of Paris, &c. Paris.

Graveniiorst, Professor J. L. C. Phil. D. &c. Breslaw. Silesia.

Gyllenhal, Major Leonard, Cheval. of the Royal Order of Wasa, Memb. of

the Acad. Sci. of Stockholm and Upsal, &e. Skara, Sweden.

Haan, W. Dl, Phil. Doct. Memb. Soc. Nat. Hist. Regensb. Calvados, Paris, &c.

Conservator of the Museum, Leyden.

IIammerschmidt, L., Doctor of Laws, Member of various Societies of Natural

History. Vienna.

Klug, Dr. Frederick, Hon. Memb. Ent. Soc. France, Director of the Entomo-

logical Department of the Royal Museum, Berlin.

Lefebvre, M. Alexandre, Corresp. Memb. of the Mus. d’Hist. Nat. de Paris, of

the Imp. Soc. of Naturalists of Moscow, &c. Paris.

Passerini, Signor Carlo, Memb. of the Entomol. Soc. of France, Director of the

Mus. of Nat. Hist. &c. Florence.

ScHONiiF.RK, C. J., Councillor of Commerce, Cheval. of the Order of the Polar

Star, Memb. of the Acad, of Nat. Sciences of Stockholm, Pisa, Moscow,

Berlin, Leipsic. Skara, Sweden.

Weidemann, Dr. Chr. R. W., Professor of Zoology, Keil.

ORDINARY ENGLISH AND FOREIGN MEMBERS.

Agassiz, Louis M. Neufchatel, Switzerland.

Anderson, John, Esq. Richmond.

Ashton, Robert John, Esq. F.L.S. 2, Pelham Crescent, Brompton.

Aube, M., Memb. Ent. Soc. France. Patis.

X

LIST OF MEMBERS.

•Babington, Charles C., Esq. M.A. F.L.S. G.S. and C.P.S. St. John’s College,

Cambridge.

Bailey, Francis, Esq. L.L.D. V.P.R.S. F.E.S. M.R.I.A. Pres. As. Society, &c.

Tavistock place, Tavistock square.

•Bainbiidge, JMr. William. 6, Water lane, Broadway, Ludgate Hill.

•Barker, George, Esq. 17, Aldgate High street.

•Barnes, Joseph S., Esq. St. Luke’s Hospital.

Barnes, Wm. George, Esq. 15, Great Russell street, Covent Garden,

•Bass, Isaac Gray, Esq. Brighton.

Bassi, The Chevalier Carlo. Milan.

Beadnall, John, Esq. Tottenham.

•Bevan, Dr. Edw. Ferryside, near Carmarthen.

Beck, Dr., Conservator of the Museum of the Crown Prince of Denmark. Co-

penhagen.

* Bell, Thomas, Esq. F.R.S. Prof. Zool. King’s Coll. London, Ac. Broad-street

Buildings.

* Bennett, William, Esq. 48, Cannon street, London.

Berendt, Dr. Dantzig.

’Bird, Rev. C. S. Burghfield, near Reading.

’Blundell, Edward S., M.D. Lower Seymour street.

Bohn, H. G., Esq. 4, York street. Covent Garden.

Boisduval, M. Paris.

•Bowerbank, J. S., Esq. 19, Critchell place, New North road.

•Broadwood, Henry, Esq. Bryanston square.

Brook, M. Creveld, Bavaria.

•Broome, C.E., Esq. M.A. Cambridge.

•Browne, R. G. S., Esq. Dulwich College.

Burlington, The Right Honourable the Earl of. Burlington House.

Burmeister, Dr. Hermann, Phil. Doct. Prof, of Zool. in University of Halle.

Castelnau, M. Le Comte de. Paris.

Charlesworth, Edward, Esq. F.G.S. 103, Great Russell street, Bloomsbury.

Chaudoir, M. le Baron Maximilian de. Kiew. Dorpat, Livonia.

Chevrolat, M. Augustus. Paris.

•Children, J. G., Esq. F.R.S. and A.S. & R.S. Edinb. II.M.C.P.S. &c. Tor-

rington square.

•Christy, John Fell. Clapham road.

Cochran, F., Esq.

Cockburn, Sir William Sarsfield Rossiter, Bart.

Cristofori, Signor. Milan.

•Darwin, Charles, Sec. G.S. &c. Great Marlborough street.

•Davis, A. H., F.L.S. M. Ent. Soc. France. Adelaide, New Holland.

De Jean, The Count. Paris.

•Desvignes, Peter, Esq. Golden square, St. James’s.

•Desvignes, T., Esq. 2, Golden square, St. James’s.

De Wael, M. Emilien. Antwerp.

* Doubleday, Mr. Edw. Epping.

•Doubleday, Mr. Henry. Epping.

Ducane, Capt. Southampton.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

XI

Dufour, M. Leon. St. Sever, France.

Dupont, M. Paris.

Edwardes, Sir Henry, Bart. Ryton, Salop.

Elliott, Walter, Esq. Madras Civil Service, Oriental Club House.

♦Engleheart, N., Esq. Park, Blackheath.

Erichson, Dr. Frederick William. Berlin.

Esenbeck, Dr. Nees von. Breslau.

Evans, W. F., Esq. Admiralty, and Elm place, Brompton.

•Eveleigh, Joseph, Esq. Manchester.

Ewing, M.T. J. Sydney, New South Wales.’

♦Eyton, Thomas. Eyton, near Wellington, Shropshire.

Fahraeus, M., Chev. Polar Star, Governor of the District of Gottenburg, Sweden.

Fischer, Count Gotthelf, de Walldhein. Moscow.

Fleming, Rev. Dr., Prof. Nat. Phil. Univ. Aberdeen.

Fridvalsky von Fridval, M. Pesth, Hungary.

Frcelich, M. Eilvagen.

Gory, M. Hippolyte, Memb. Soc. Nat. Hist, et Ent. Soc. France. Paris.

*Gould, John, Esq. F.L.S. Z.S. Broad street. Golden square.

Graells, M. P. Barcelona, Spain.

Grant, , Esq. M.D. Richmond.

♦Gray, George Robert, Esq. Mem. Soc. d’Ent. Fr. Hampstead Green.

Greenhough, G. B., Esq. F.R.S. L.S. G.S. &c. Grove House, Regent’s Park.

♦Griesbach, G. Adolphus, Esq. London.

♦Griesbach, J. Henry. 3, Carlton Villa, Maida Hill.

♦Griesbach, Al. Will., B.A. Rev. Weston, near Whitwell, York

Gudrin, M. F. E., Memb. Soc. Hist. Nat. et d’Ent. France. Paris.

Gutch, J. W. G„ Esq. Wind street, Swansea, Glamorganshire.

♦Hanson, Samuel, Esq. Memb. Ent Soc. France. Botolph lane.

Harrison, W., Esq. F.R.S. A.S. Z.S. L.S. &c. Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

♦Hawkins, , Esq. M.D. Hackney road.

♦Heales, G. S., Esq. Doctors’ Commons.

Hearne, John, Esq. Port au Prince, Hayti. 59, Montague square.

Hely, Gorges, Esq. Johnston, Ireland.

♦Hennessy, P. II.

Heyden, M. Le Senateur Van. Frankfort on the Main.

Higgins, Rev. Edw. Bosbury, Hereford.

♦Hole, Henry. Ebberley house, near Great Torrington, North Devon.

Holme, Fred., Esq. M.A. Corpus Christi Coll. Oxford, and Windham Club,

London.

Hooker, Joseph, Esq. Glasgow.

♦Hope, Rev. Frederick William, M.A. F.R.S. Z.S. L.S. G.S. &c. 56, Upper

Seymour street, Portman square.

Hope, Mrs. Frederick.

Hope, J. T., Esq. Netley, Shropshire.

Hope, Thomas H., Esq. Netley, Shropshire.

Horner, Edward, Esq. Grove hill, Camberwell.

Xll

LIST OF MEMBERS.

*IIorsfield, Thomas, M.D. F.R.S. L.S. Z.S. G.S. Acad. Caes. Nat. Cur. Soc. See.

See. Myddleton square, Islington.

Horsley, J. W., Rev. Turnham Green.

*Hoyer, Jacob, Esq. 1, Crown court, Threadneedle street.

Jarman, G., Esq. 21, Upper Berkeley street.

*Jenyns, Leonard, Rev., M.A. F.L.S. C.P.S. &c. Swaffham, Bulbeek.

*Image, John, Rev. Dulwich College.

ImhofF, M. Louis. Basle, Switzerland.

*Ingpen, Abel, Esq. A. L.S. 29, Upper Manor street, Chelsea.

^Johnson, E. A., Mr. Governor of the Gaol, Ipswich.

Kidd, John, Esq. M.D. F.R.S. HAT. C.P.S. Reg. Prof. Med. Oxford.

Knott, William, Esq. Wimborne, Dorsetshire.

Kunze, M. Leipzig.

Lacordaire, Th., Prof. Nat. Hist. Liege.

Lamb, , Esq. Beaufort, near Hastings.

Lambert, A. B., Esq. F.R.S. H.M.R.S.A. \ .P.L.S. F.G.S. &c. 26, Grosvenor

street.

*Lees, Edwin, Esq. Worcester.

Lehmann, Dr., Director of the Botanic Garden, Hamburgh.

i|i:Leigh, H. T., Esq. Turnham Green.

*Letts, Thomas. Cornhill.

*Lewis, R. II., Esq. Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land.

* Lewis, W. E., Esq. Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land.

Lingwood, Rob. Maulkin, Esq. M.A. F.L.S. Christ Coll Camb. and Hereford.

* Longman, W., Esq. jun. Paternoster row and Hampstead.

Lowe, Charles, Esq. Liverpool.

* Lucas, Geoffroy, Esq. Hitchen, Herts.

Maltby, T. W., Esq. Wyndham Club, St. James’s, and Turnham Green.

Mannerheim, Count C. G. de, Governor of the Province of Wibourg, Finland.

'^Marshall, Tho., Esq. 11, King William street, City, and 23, St. Paul's place,

Balls’ Pond.

Masters, Mr. William, jun. Canterbury.

Matthews, Andrew, Rev., M.A. Weston on the Green, Oxford.

*May, Rev. George. Strode house, Herne, and University Club, Pall Mall.

Mavne, J., Esq. F.R.S. and Z.S. F.A.S. 2, Harcourt buildings, Temple, and

Teffont Ewyas House, Wiltshire

*Melly, A., Esq. Liverpool.

Menetries, M. St. Petersburgh.

Mitford, Robert, Esq. Manchester street, Manchester square.

* Morris, Edmund, Esq. London.

Newport, Geo., Esq. 6, Somers street, Oxford terrace.

Norreys, Charles Denham Orlando Jephson, Esq M.P. F.G.S. Z.S. See. Mal-

low Castle, Ireland.

*Norris, Thomas, Esq. Red Vales, Bury.

Ocskay von Ocsko, M. le Baron, Priv. Councillor of Emp. Austria, Memb. Nat.

Hist. Soc. of Moscow and of the Acad. Caesar. Leop. Carol. Naturae Cur.

LIST OF MEMBERS.

xiii

Ogilvy, Wm., Esq. M.A. F.L.S. Z.S. M.R.A.S. &c. Gower street, Bedfoid square.

Parry, Frederick, Esq. Wolseley terrace, Cheltenham.

Perty, M. Maximilian, Prof. Nat. Hist. Acad. Berne.

Petit, Louis Hayes, Esq. M.P. F.R.S. A.S. L.S. and FI.S. 9, New square, Lin-

coln’s Inn.

Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph, Esq. F.R.S. A.S. &c. Saville row.

Phillips, Sir Thomas, Bart.

♦Pickering, William B., Esq. Hammersmith.

Pictet, M. Geneva.

Plimley, Rev. Henry, M.A. Cuckfield, Sussex.

♦Preston, Rev. J. D. J. Asham Bryant, near York.

Power, John Arthur, Esq. M.A. Clare Hall, Cambridge.

♦Raddon, William, Esq. 4, Cumberland terrace, New Cut, Bristol.

Reich, Prof., M.D. Berlin.

Roger, M. Bordeaux.

*Roget, , M.D. F.R.S. &c. Bernard street, Russell square.

Roser, M. van, Director of the Chancery of the Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Stuttgard.

Rucker, Sigismund, Esq. F.L.S. H S. West Hill, Wandsworth.

Sahlberg, M. Finland.

Saunders, Joshua, Esq. East Hill, Wandsworth.

♦Saunders, Sidney Smith, Esq. Previsa, Albania.

♦Saunders, W. W., F.L.S. &c. East Hill, Wandsworth.

Scales, William, Esq. Stamford Hill.

Schuppell, Mons. Berlin.

Schwaegrichen, Professor. Leipzig.

Sells, W., Esq. Kingston-upon-Thames.

Shipster, G. F., Esq. 26, Great James street, Bedford row.

♦Shuckard, William Edward, Esq. Libr. R.S. 31, Robert street, Chelsea.

Silbermann, M. Gustave. Strasbourg.

♦Skrimshire, , Esq. London.

*Slaney, R., Esq. M.P.

♦Smee, Capt. W alter, E.I.C. 61, Baker street, Portman square.

Sommer, M. Michael Christian. Altona, near Hamburgh.

♦Spence, R. IL, Esq. Hull.

♦Spence, W. B., Esq. Florence.

Spinola, M. Maximilian. Genoa.

Spry, W., Esq. 76, Portland road, Regent’s Park.

♦Stephens, James F., Esq. Eltham Lodge, Foxley road, Kennington.

Stevens, Samuel, Esq. King’s street, Covent Garden, and Hammersmith.

Strachan, J., Esq. Sierra Leone.

Streatfield, Rev. J., M.A. Margate, Kent.

♦Sykes, Lieut. Col., F.R.S. G.S. L.S. M.R.A.S. Albion street, Hyde Park.

♦Taylor, Richard, Esq. F.R.S. L.S. G.S. &c. Red Lion court, Fleet street.

Thompson, Charles J., Esq. F.L.S. &c. George street, Hanover square.

Thompson, Charles Thurston, Esq. Bedford place, Kensington.

Thwailes, G. H. R., Esq. Bristol.

XIV

LIST OF MEMBERS.

Tulk, Alfred, Esq. 23, Henrietta square, Cavendish square, and East Brook

place, Dover.

Turner, J., Esq. Manchester.

•Vigors, N. A., Esq. M.P. D.C.L. F.R.S. L.S. A.S. H.S. &c. Chester terrace,

Regent’s Paik.

Villiers, M. Francois de, Cheval. Roy. and Mil. Ord. St. Ferdinand of Spain,

Capt. of Infantry, Member of the Linn. Soc. Paris, of the Ent. Soc. of

France, and Director of the Nat. Hist. Museum at Chartres.

•Walker, Francis, Esq. F.L.S. &c. Bedford square.

•Wailes, George. Newcastle.

•Walton, John. 9, Barnsbuiy terrace, Liverpool road, Islington.

•Waterhouse, George Robert, Esq. Zool. Soc. Leicester square.

Wells, H. G., Esq. Surbiton Lodge, Kingston-upon-Thames.

Westermann, M. Copenhagen.

•Westwood, John O., F.L.S., M. Soc. d’Ent. Fr., Hon. M. Soc. Nat. Hist. Lille,

Lund., Mauritius, Moscow, Quebec. Grove, Hammersmith.

Whithill, Col., Hon. E. Ind. Comp. Serv.

White, Adam, Esq. Assistant Nat. British Museum.

Willcox, William, Esq. Dulwich Common.

Winthem, M. von. Hamburgh.

•Wood, William, Esq. F.R.S. F.L.S. Tavistock street. Covent Garden.

•Yarrell, William, Esq. F.L.S. Z.S. Amer. Soc. Ryder street, St. James’s.

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.

Cantor, Dr.

Downes, E., Esq. Himalaya.

Fortnum, C. D. E., Esq. Port Adelaide, South Australia.

Griffith, William, Esq. Madras Civil Service.

Mac Clelland, John, Esq, Bengal Med. Service.

Mitchell, Sir Livingston.

Porter, Sir Robert Kerr. South America.

Sayers, Lieut. H. R., 31st Regt.

Schomburgk, Dr. Demerara.

Templeton, Robert, Esq. Royal Artillery. Ceylon.

Tweedy, John Newman, Esq. Swedish and Norwegian Cons. 6tc. Hayti, Tort

au Prince.

OFFICERS.

1840.

The Rev. W. Kirby, M.A. F.R.S. &c Honorary President.

The Rev. F. W. Hope, M.A. F.R.S. &c President.

George Newport, Esq

Francis Walker, Esq. F.L.S. G.S. &c fVice President.

John Walton, Esq J

W. Yarrell, Esq. F.L.S. Z.S. &c Treasurer.

J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. See Secretary.

W. E. Shuckard and J. O. Westwood Curators.

W. Bainbridge Sub-Curator.

COUNCIL.

Messrs. Hope, Yarrell, Shuckard, Ingpf.n, Westwood, Marshall, Newport,

Walton, Stephens, Bowerbank, W. W. Saunders, F. Walker,

Charlesworth.

Observe : — The Entomological Society does not hold itself responsible

for any of the facts or opinions stated in the Memoirs published in

these Transactions.

T R A N S A C T I O N S

OF THE

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

OF

LONDON.

I. Some Account of the Habits of an East Indian Species

of Butterfly , belonging to the Genus Thecla. By J. O.

Westwood, F. L. S. Sec. E. S., Spc.

[Read February 2, 1835.]

(Plate I.)

The transformations of the species of hair-streak butterfly

forming the subject of the following notice have been traced by

Mr. Charles King of Madras, to whom and to Mr. Stuchbury, I

am indebted for an opportunity of laying the details thereof before

this Society.

This butterfly resides in the larva state in the interior of the

pomegranate, seven or eight, at least, having been reared in the

interior of the small fruit now exhibited. Of the mode in which

the eggs are deposited by the female in the interior of the pome-

granate no information has been received ; it is, however, probable

that this is effected whilst the fruit is in its very young state. The

caterpillars feed upon the seeds and inner part of the fruit, which

is thus rendered weak, and unable to support its own weight, and

consequently liable to have its stem broken, and to fall to the

ground with the first wind. This, however, would be destruction

to the inclosed insects, since, in all probability, they would find it

impossible to make their escape were the fruit to be suffered to lay

rotting upon the ground. To obviate this evil, the caterpillars,

VOL. n. B

2 Mr. J. O. Westwood on a Species

when full fed, have the instinct to eat a hole, about a quarter of an

inch in diameter, through the hard shell of the fruit, whilst it re-

mains upon the tree ; through this hole they then creep to the

stem of the fruit, and spin a white web, which they attach to the

basal part of the fruit as well as to the stem, for about the distance

of an inch along the latter. This web is sufficiently strong to sup-

port the pomegranate from falling after the wind has broken the

stem near to the fruit ; as is the case in the specimen of the fruit

exhibited, and as represented in my figure.

From the circumstance of this specimen having as many holes in

it as there were caterpillars inhabiting it, it is most probable that

the web thus spun is a joint production of the whole.*

But it will be at once asked, what necessity could there be for

the caterpillars to secure the fruit from falling after each has bored

a hole, and thus made its escape? This question is answered by

the curious circumstance that, after so securing the fruit, the cater-

pillars return again into the pomegranate, in the hollow interior of

which they undergo their transformation to the chrysalis state.

Here, too, we may notice another interesting fact ; namely, that

the insect has the precautionary instinct, which acts as a second

inducement, to make the aperture in the fruit in that stage of its

existence in which it is furnished with organs best adapted for the

purpose ; for, had the larva omitted taking this step, the consequence

would have been, that the poor insect, when come to its butterfly

state, would have been a prisoner totally unable to make its escape,

being unprovided with any instrument sufficiently powerful to make

a hole in the shell. Some Lepidoptera, we know, such as the puss

moth, are able, on arriving at the perfect state, to make their way

out of cocoons, which are even harder than the shell of the pome-

granate ; but in these instances the cocoon has been rendered hard

by means of glutinous matter secreted by the caterpillar, which the

newly hatched moth has power to dissolve.

Many Cofeoptera, especially amongst the wood-feeding species,

have the instinct, immediately before assuming the pupa state, to

eat a passage almost to the surface of the substances within which

they reside, leaving only a thin covering, which the newly-hatched

imago is able without difficulty to eat through.'}' But in this butter-

* It is curious, as evidencing the instinctive impulses under which each of the

inclosed larva? must have acted, that, instead of availing themselves of the first

aperture made in the fruit, each caterpillar should be at the trouble of making a

hole for itself, a circumstance which rendeis it the more probable that all joined in

spinning the web.

t In some instances, however, even amongst the Coleoptera, a perfect orifice is

3

of Butterfly from the East Indies.

fly it is absolutely necessary that a complete aperture should be left

open ; and, as this is a circumstance which necessarily leaves the

pupa exposed, it is not surprising that nature should seldom resort

to such a proceeding in the case of internal feeding insects.

Perhaps even in this almost solitary instance, we may fairly imagine

that the situation is sufficiently retired to ensure them protection

from many of their enemies. These chrysalides are attached hori-

zontally upon the inner walls of the pomegranate, by means, first, of

a patch of silk laid upon its surface, to the centre of which the tail of

the chrysalis is affixed, and second, of a slender silken thread passing

from side to side over the base of the abdominal segments. As to

the manner in which the girthed suspension is effected after the

larva has attached itself, I may be allowed to make the following-

short extract from Messrs. Kirby and Spence’s third volume, p. 212.

In this order of insects which have several modus operandi, some

of the larvae which have a short and more rigid body, (as Lyccena

Argus, and many more of the Papiliones rurales and urbicolae,)

“ after having bent the head on one side so as to fix one end of the

thread, bring themselves into a straight position, and by a manoeuvre,

not easily described, contrive to introduce the head under the

thread, which they then bend themselves to fasten on the other

side, pushing it to its proper situation by the successive tension and

contraction of their segments.” A short time after this is effected,

the skin of the caterpillar bursts, and its skin is gradually sloughed

off beneath the girth, until the pupa is entirely naked ; the exuviae

being collected at the extremity of the abdomen, as represented in

my figures.

Another curious instance of instinct yet remains to be noticed.

The butterfly, so soon as ever it has escaped from the puparium,

must make its escape out of the hole formed by the larva. Delay

would be death, as the wings would soon acquire their full expan-

sion of nearly a couple of inches, in which state it would, of course,

be unable to creep out.

We may easily imagine the beautiful appearance which a pome-

granate tree must present at the moment when a whole brood of these

pretty insects make their way to the daylight, their wings gradually

expanding whilst seated on their old abode, or on adjoining stems,

and their shining purple colours offering a beautiful contrast to the

made by the larvae for the escape of the perfect beetle. This, at least, was the case

in a specimen of Saperda Cardui, reared last summer by Mr. Stephens, the larva of

which had the precaution to eat a hole through the cork stopper of the tin box in

which it was enclosed ; after making which, it returned into the box, and underwent

the changes to the perfect state.

15 2

4

Mr. J. O. Westwood on a Species

rich red colour of the pomegranate fruit. In the chrysalis state the

belly of the insect is placed in contact with the inner surface of the

fruit; consequently, as the slit by which the butterfly escapes out of

the puparium extends along the back, the under surface ot the latter

remains entire, the anterior lateral portions on each side the slit

(extending as far as the whole coverings of the wings) curling up

and laying close upon those parts which had covered the breast and

limbs, leaving the abdominal portion in the same form as when it

inclosed the insect. This, therefore, enables me to give the fol-

lowing concise description of the pupa : —

Short, robust, obtuse at each end, posteriorly rounded, without

any unevennesses upon the surface of the body, of a dark brown

colour, covered with minute darker spots.

The perfect insect belongs to the genus Thecla, and to that section

of it which Dr. Horsfield has termed Theda stride sic dicta. “ Alae

posticse appendiculo anali caudaque solitaria munitse.”

It may be thus characterized: —

Thecla Isocrates.

Supra. Alee £ obscure fuscse, nitore subplumbeo micantes, di-

midio apicali in certo situ (nisi extremo apice anticarum) pur-

pureo relucentes. 9 fuscse, basi subplumbese, anticse macula

centrali fulva.

In utroque sexu appendiculo anali maculisque duabus arese

analis nigris (quarum major in femina luteo intus cingitur),

squamulis argenteis versus angulum ani notatis. Caudis nigris,

apice albis.

Subtus. Alee albido vel griseo canescentes, fasciis duabus tenuibus

subregularibus per alas (pone medium) currentibus alterisque

duabus in singula ala abbreviatis discoideis, appendiculo anali

nigro, macula anali caeruleo-argentea, alteraque approximata

nigra, intus fulvo cincta.

Expans. alar. $ 1 unc. 4 lin. 9 1 unc. 8 lin.

Habitat in India orientali, ubi Tunicas destruit ; larvis semina de-

vorantibus.

In Mus. nostr.

Syn. Hesperia Isocrates, Fab. Ent. Syst. 3. 266, 29, j . 9 Encycl.

Method. 9. 633.

Hesperia Pann. Fab. Ent. Syst. 3. 276. 67 9 . Herbst. 28S. 9. 10.

Wings above in the male of a dirty brown colour, with an obscure

leaden coloured tinge, the exterior half of all the wings (except the

outer angle of the upper) changing in certain lights to a rich purple

colour ; the borders of the wings are uniformly darker, the anal

5

of Butterfly from the East Indies.

area of the posterior wings is destitute of the purple reflexion, the

short anal appendage black, with a lunule of silvery white scales,

and with a black spot on each side of the base of the tail, the

inner spot being the smallest and marked with silvery scales ; the

tail is black, with a white tip.

In the female the wings above are brown, the basal portion with

an obscure leaden tinge, the edges darker, the upper pair with a

luteous spot in the centre towards the costa. The anal area is

marked as in the male, except that the outer black spot is inwardly

edged with a luteous lunule ; a few luteous scales are also observed

at the base of the anal appendage. The ciliae throughout white.

Beneath the wings in both sexes are of a delicate satin appear-

ance, and of a very pale buff-grey colour, with a double row of

slender darker lines beyond the middle, enclosing a nearly straight

and slightly darker fascia in the fore-wings, but farther removed

from the margin and more irregular in the under-pair. The centre

of each wing is also maked with a short double row of lines ;

another and much less distinct double row of markings also occurs

between the former and the outer margin of the wing, in the hinder

pair ; these latter markings enclose at the anal region two black

ocellate spots, the exterior one being inwardly margined with a

luteous lunule, the other ocellus occupying the anal appendage,

and ornamented outwardly with a narrow metallic white streak ;

between these is a silvery blue spot. The margin of the anal area

of the posterior w'ings is also terminated by a slender black line.

The posterior wings are very slightly scolloped, the scollops grow-

ing more distinct towards the tail.

This insect is nearly allied to Thecla Jarbas and Xenophon of

Fabricius, described in detail by Dr. Ilorsfield in his Lepidoptera

Javanica ; from these, however, (as I have been enabled by the

kindness of the latter gentleman to ascertain from an inspection of

his Javanese collections,) this insect is very distinct.

It also appears sufficiently distinct from Polyommatus Philippas

of Fabr.

In the determination of the sexes of this species I have been

guided by the anatomical characters exhibited by the legs ; for a

knowledge of the peculiarities existing in these organs we are in-

debted to Dr. Horsfield, who has thence ascertained the singular

fact, that those individuals of our British species, Thecla quercus,

which have been described by all authors as the males, are in fact

females, and vice versa. No figure has, however, hitherto been

given of the structure of the male anterior tarsus, which consists

of a single long joint ; this joint is as long as the entire articulated

6

Mr. J. O. Westwood on a Species

tarsus of the female, and when covered with scales might easily be

regarded as similarly articulated. Hence we find Mr. Curtis de-

scribing- the legs of Theda alike in both sexes. The remarkable

tooth near the extremity of the intermediate thigh on the under-

side, and the corresponding notch in the tibia, represented in my

figure, were also first pointed out by Dr. Horsfield. In its perfect

state this butterfly presents some curious points of relationship ;

the rich purple tint on the wings of the male calls to mind our

Theda quercus , but in that species it is the female, which (by a de-

parture from the general rules of insect colouring) puts on the

“ imperial purple.” On the other hand, the fulvous patch on the

fore-wing of the female is also exhibited by the female of Theda

Betulce, but the male of that species is not adorned with purple

tint. The greater development of the tails and the anal appendage

of the lower wings is also exhibited in several Indian and Javanese

species, as Theda Jarhas and Xenophon, and some others nearly

allied. I have, however, only seen a single species in which the

decided parallel row of lines beyond the centre of the wings runs

through the whole extent. This is an East Indian species, con-

tained in the museum of the East India Company, differing from

mine in several particulars.

The genus Theda exhibits in the pupa state several distinct vari-

ations of form.

In Th. Pruni and some allied species, as also in Theda ( Ambly -

podia ) Longinus, the back of the abdomen is furnished with tuber-

cles ; these are wanting in Theda Xenophon (or Jarhas), and in

Theda (Ambly podia), Narada, and Appidanus ;* but in these species

the abdomen is conical. In my species, and also in a species of

Thecla, figured by Sepp, (Vol. ii. No. 2, pi. 1,) and misnamed by

him Th. Betulce, (to which species it is however allied,) the pupa is

smooth, and the abdomen obtuse.

It only remains for me to notice, in illustration of the remarkable

peculiarity in the economy of Theda Isocrates, 1st, the habits of

other species of this genus, all of which disagree with the former ;

and 2d, the economy of such species of butterflies as afford an

analogy in this respect with this Thecla. Hitherto the larvae of

Thecla have only been observed to feed upon the leaves of different

plants, and this is also the case with the nearly allied species Thecla

Xenophon. The pupae simply attach themselves to the twigs, or the

leaves of the plants upon which they have been reared. Sometimes,

however, the metamorphosis of some of the P olyommalidce is effected

partially in the ground.^

* Horsfiel !, Lep. Jav. Pl.iv. t Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat, vol. 27, p.482.

of Butterfly from the East Indies. 7

Messrs. Kirby and Spence, indeed, make the following obser-

vation upon the statement, that almost all butterflies suspend

themselves, “ Except some species of Polyommatus, Latr. ( Thecla

Argynnis, Fabr.), P. Argiolus, Corydon, See., and Hesperia Rubi

Betulce, F. &c. Some of the larvae of the former become pupae

within the stalk of some plant, or partly under the earth ; * those

of the latter usually in a leaf to which the abdomen is fastened by

various threads. These last are the rouleuses of the butterfly tribe,

living like some moths in leaves that they have rolled up;” and re-

ferring to the Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat. 24, 499. The latter part

only of this passage is, however, taken from that work, and refers

to the genus Hesperia of the French authors, and not as made by

Fabricius to include the Theclce, which are not “ rouleuses.”

In the second place, so perfectly unique is the economy of this

butterfly in its mode of feeding in the larva state, and precautionary

suspension previous to assuming the pupa state, that the only ana-

logous circumstances which I have met with throughout the whole

of the genus Papilio, are the precautionary measures taken by the

social larvae of the Glanville fritillary ( Melitcca Cinxia), previous to

the setting-in of winter, in the construction of a more durable web

than that which has served them for their ordinary tents, in which

they remain in the caterpillar state until revived by the warmth of

the following spring, when they again issue forth unchanged. In

like manner the larvae of the White Admiral ( Limenitis Camilla )>

previous to the approach of winter, (as I have been informed by

J. Barnes, Esq. M. E. S.,) secures the leaf, in which it remains un-

changed until the spring, from falling, by attaching it to the twig

on which it then hangs by means of a slight web. These instances

it will, however, be observed, are not preparatory to undergoing

the pupa state, and this necessity for the adoption of these pre-

cautions by the larvae is much less obvious than where this step is

taken for the safety of the chrysalis ; since if the leaf, with the in-

closed caterpillar, were to fall to the ground, there would be little

difficulty in the caterpillar escaping ; but were the pomegranate to

fall, the insect inclosed could not possibly escape destruction. I

may be allowed to close these remarks by observing, that, in the

various points of economy already adduced, this butterfly is cer-

tainly one of the most interesting which has hitherto been traced

through its different stages.

* In the 32nd number of the Magazine of Natural History is contained a notice

of Theda Quercus, undergoing (casually) its pupa state underground.

8 Mr. J. O. Westwood on a Species of Butterfly.

P. S. Since the preceding memoir was read, the two following

notices, subsequently published, have been observed, which, in

some respects, illustrate the habits of the insects in question.

M. Lacordaire {Ann. Soc. Ent. de France, 1833, p. 385) states

that the larvae of Papilio Archelaus live in societies, consisting of

100, 150, or 200 individuals, the community residing when very

young upon a single leaf, arranged side by side, with the heads

turned in the same direction. When one is touched, they all simul-

taneously raise their heads, moving them about in all directions, and

at the same time renew their quiet position. When arrived at a

more mature growth, they are found in the same position upon the

trunk of the tree.

The other notice relates to Saturnia Prometliea, a fine North

American species, and is very analogous to the account of the

proceedings of the Thecla Isocrates, given above. Mr. Titian

Peale, to whom I am indebted for an extensive collection of

North American insects, has given an interesting account of the

habits of the Saturnia Prometliea, in his valuable work, entitled

Lepidoptera Americana, stating that its caterpillar, when full grown,

selects a perfect leaf of the swamp button wood ( Ceplialanthus

Occidentals , upon which it feeds), the upper surface of which it

covers with a fine light yellowish brown silk, extending this coating

with great skill and foresight over the footstalk of the leaf, and at-

taching it firmly to the branch so as to secure the leaf from being

separated by any accident. This preliminary object having been

accomplished, the caterpillar next draws the edges of the leaf

together, thus forming a perfect external covering or mantle, in

which it spins a fine strong and durable cocoon of fine silk, in

which it assumes the pupa state. At first, the leaf enveloping the

cocoon remains green, but soon changes to a red or brown colour,

when it becomes brittle, and is gradually carried away by the

winds and storms of the winter, until finally nothing remains except

the cocoon itself, which is firmly suspended by the silk which once

covered the footstalk of the leaf. This defence, it will however

be perceived, cannot be considered as so firm and complete as that

prepared by the pomegranate butterfly.

Description of a new Coleopterous Genus.

9

II. Description of anew Coleopterous Genus, belonging to the

Tribe Prionida, termed Torneutes. Bg G. Ch. Reich,

M.D., For. M. L. S. Lond., For. M. E. S., fyc.

[Read Nov. 2, 1835.]

Among a considerable number of coleopterous insects, collected

in the province Entre Rios, of the state of Argentina, in South

America, I had the pleasure to obtain the type of a new Genus of

the Tribe of Prionida, which differs from each of the genera of

Longicornes, Lair., published (in the new classification) of that

family, in the Annales de la Societc Entomologique de France, tome i.

Paris, 1832, Svo. p. 118, &c., by M. Audinet-Serville, in so many

points, that it cannot be brought under any of the fifty genera therein

established. It is, especially in the much lengthened, slender, and

subcylindric, or rather subdepressed form of its body, the un-

common number of twelve joints in the antennse, the parallelo-

piped form of its unarmed thorax, and the shortness of its legs, by

which it is distinguished at first sight from all the other genera

of this tribe ; and although the decreasing length and increasing

narrowness of the joints of its filiform antennae, from the basal

joint to the apex, give to this insect some resemblance to the sub-

tribe Spondylii, which the above-mentioned distinguished French

Entomologist has placed at the head of his tribe Prionii, or rather

with the genus Parandra, excluded by him from that tribe (so

that we might possibly consider this new genus as the connecting

link between the Spondylii and Prionii); yet it possesses a greater

affinity to the last, so that it seems impossible to separate it from

them, without violating the rules of a sound natural arrangement.

The Latin language being that of the true scholar in natural

history, is here adopted. I would also suggest, at the same time,

that the general appellations of the Orders, Tribes, and Families, as

being adjectives referring to the substantives Insecta, Coleoptera,

Eleutherata, &c. should always be given in the neuter gender, and

never in the masculine or feminine.

Familia : Longicornia. Latr.

Tribus: Prionida.

Genus: Torneutes. (Tab. 2. fig. 1, 2, 3.)

Corpus elongatum, angustum, aequale, subcylindricum, Statura

lineari, depressiuscula, et facie fere Parandrce giganticae aut

Monotomalis nmtici.

Caput exsertum, porrectum, subrotundatum, Intitudine in medio

10

Dr. G. C. Reich’s Description

thoracem sequante, longitudine hoc fere (limidio breviori, fronte

inaequali impressa aut subretusa, fulvo pilosa, vertice con-

vexiori, subtus utrinque ad menti insertionem dente dislincto in-

struction.

Antennce filiformes, breviusculae, vix insertionem pedum intermedi-

orum excedentes, ante oculos ad basin mandibularum insertae,

duodecim articidatce , articulis a basi ad apicem usque sensim

sensimque angustioribus et brevioribus, subcompressis, primo

omnium longiori et validiori, basi subattenuato, apice sub-

clavato ; secundo brevissimo, hemispbserico ; tertio basali

paullo breviori et tenuiori, cylindrico ; quarto praecedente

iterum paullo breviori, subcylindrico ; quinto et sexto fere

aequalibus ; septimo et octavo vix paullisper brevioribus, te-

nuioribus, aequalibus ; nono, decimo et undecimo iterum paullo

brevioribus et attenuatis, singulo vix tertiam basalis partem

aequante ; duodecimo et ultimo tenuissimo, subacuminato.

Oculi laterales, semilunares, parum prominuli, reticulati.

Clypeus transversus, integer, brevissimus, medio late emarginatus,

pilis fulvis vestitus.

Labrum corneum, laminaeforme, angustum, productum, quadra-

turn, spatium intra mandibularum basin occupans, antice leviter

emarginatum et medio fasciculo scrobiformi pilorum fulvorum

praeditum.

Mandibulce corneae, exsertae, porrectae, validae, subtrigonae, com-

pressae, punctatae, basi latissimae, longitudine caput fere

aequantes, extus ad basin angulatae, versus apicem subar-

cuatae, apice acuto subincurvo terminatae, intus verticaliter

emarginatae, dentibus tribus, anteriori sub apice obtusiori,

medio acutiori, postico ad basin intus dilatatam subacuto, mu-

nitae.

Maxillce corneae, subtrigonae, oblique insitae, inaequaliter con-

structae, basi latissimae, extus deorsum in processum longiorem

apice subacutum et plicas corneas protensae : lobo interno

continuo conice assurgente, brevi, ubique una cum margine

interno baseos subtiliter ciliato, externo sessili, internum

longitudine duplo excedente, basi attenuato, sursum latiori,

ovato, densius et fortius ciliato : palpis maxillaribus validius-

culis, quadriarticulatis, ad basin lobi externi maxillae lateri

liujus affixis, nudis : articulo basali gracili, basi attenuato,

apice vix paullo crassiori, secundo multo crassiori a basi graci-

liori in clavam subovatam extenso, tertio paene dimidio bre-

viori, crassiusculo, obovato, quarto paullo attenuato & longi-

ori, apice obtuso.

of a new Coleopterous Gem/s. 11

Mention corneum, brevissimum, late transversurn, subarcuatum,

medio denticulo vix conspicuo instructum : labio angusto, an-

tice subemarginato, utrinque subtilissime ciliato : pnlpis labi -

alibus maxillares longitudine aequantibus, basi approximatis,

ad denticulum menti insertis, triarticulatis ; articulo basali

brevi, crassiusculo, cylindrico, pubescenti-ciliato, secundo et

tertio elongatis, nudis, priori quam basali triplo fere longiori,

subclavato, ultimo paullo breviori, elongato-subovato.

Thorax parallelepipedus, latitudine paullo longior, capitis medii

diametro transverso et elytrorum basi sequalis, disco compla-

natus et subdepressus, lateribus muticus, baud marginatus,

sed deflexo-rotundatus, subtus sine ora in antepectus transiens,

angulis omnibus obtusatis et rotundatis, margine antico sub-

emarginatus ad capitis receptionem, basi truncatus, fulvo-

fimbriatus.

Dorsolum distinctum, corneum, formam laminae in ambitu fulvo-

ciliatse exhibens.

Scutellum distinctum, parvum, corneum, apice rotundatum, sericeo-

villosum, villis depressis incumbentibus.

Elytra thorace plus quam triplo longiora, rigida, linearia, versus

apicem vix paullisper latiora, glabra, incumbentia, utrinque

vix deflexa, marginata, humeris vix prominentibus, rotundatis,

apice singulatim rotundata, mutica, disco lineis duabus longi-

tudinalibus elevatis obsoletis ad apicem excurrentibus.

Antepectus simplex, partem contiguam et indivisam inferiorem

thoracis formans, uniforme, immarginatum, rotundatum, gla-

brum, postice utrinque ad receptionem pedum anteriorum

emarginatum, ponesternum intra coxas pedum sirnulans.

Medipectus breve, inaequale, ellipticum, medio sinuatum, utrinque

ad receptionem pedum intermediorum emarginatum, medio

postice foveolatum.

Postpectus longitudine prothoracis, scutiforme, convexum, medio

linea longitudinali impressum, pube densissima obductum, pa-

rapleuris utrinque distinctis angustis ad insertionem coxae utri-

usque pedis postici terminantibus praeditum.

Pedes simplices, breviusculi, validi, sequales, antici et postici ex-

tensi, nec caput, nec abdomen longitudine excedentes : femora

incrassata, compressa; tibiae validiusculae, subrectae, apice intus

vix calcare subtili instructs ; tarsi quadriarticulati, articulis

tribus prioribus breviusculis, longitudine aequalibus, subdila-

tatis, subtus pulvinatis, primo trigono, secundo breviori, simili,

tertio latiori, bilobo, quarto tenui, arcuato, nudo, longitudinis

12 Dr. G. C. Reich’s Description

duorum praecedentium insimul, apice unguiculis duobus bre-

vibus validiusculis instructo.

Abdomen subparallelum, pallidius, griseo-pubescens, segmentis sex

compositum, quorum primum sub postpectore occultum, an-

gustum, in duas partes remotas laterales divisum ; secundum

latissimum, antice medio convexum, carinula inter coxas pedum

posticorum interposita ; sequentia paullo breviora, parallela,

marginibus posticis pallide limbatis ; ultimum brevius, paullo

angustatum, apice medio emarginatum ; ano subtus protruso

bifido.

Species 1. T. Pallidipennis : subcylindrico-depressus, ater, niti-

dus ; capite antice subretuso, rude punctato ; thorace paralle-

lepipedo, mutico, arctim subtilius punctato ; disci linea media

longitudinali, callosa, polita, medio quasi perforata, aliaque

utrinque laterali abbreviata, antice crassiori, punctisque tribus

lateralibus impressis cicatricosis oblique triangulatim positis ;

elytris linearibus parallelis, apicem versus vix paullisper la-

tioribus, muticis, glabris, marginatis, testaceis ; disci lineis

duabus longitudinalibus elevatis, ad apicem rotundatum, ob-

solete excurrentibus ; pedibus atro-piceis. Variat colore piceo.

Longitudo ab apice mandibularum ad anum trium fere pollicum,

latitudo ad humeros elytrorum septem, ad apicem eorum octo

ad novem linearum.

Habitat in provincia Entre Rios reipublicae Argentinensis Ame-

ricas meridionalisj arbores corrodens. Tab. 2. fig. 1. magni-

tudine naturali ; fig. 2. maxilla cum palpis ; fig. 3, mentum

cum palpis labialibus.

The external form of this beetle bears such a striking resem-

blance to some of the genera of the tribe (or, I should rather say,

family,) Prionida, that I do not doubt but that it will be ranged,

without hesitation, in the same family, inasmuch as its habits and

metamorphoses are in all probability similar to other Prionida ;

for, although the singular filiform or rather short and almost sub-

serrated or submoniliform antennae, the distinct tooth at the in-

sertion of the mentum on both sides of the mouth, and the un-

armed thorax of this beetle, seem to approach the genus Parandra,

which Latreille (Gen. Crustaceor. et Insector. III. 28) had esta-

blished as the first of his Prionii, but which M. Audinet Serville

(1. c.) has lately entirely excluded from them, there are yet so many

grounds for agreeing with the proposed collocation, that I cannot

abstain from placing the new genus Torneutes at the head of the

true family Prionida, especially as it really seems to be a link of

13

of a new Coleopterous Genus.

the circular chain connecting all the xylophagous Coleoptera, and

especially the three principal genera of the tribus Prionii of Latreille

(Regne Animal, 2e edit.), viz. Spondylis , Parandra, and Prionus,

with its numerous subgenera.

H aving already mentioned some of the corresponding characters

between Parandra and Torneutes, I have only to add, that the latter

is distinguished by its twelve, not eleven-jointed antennse, by its

straight (not filiform) mandibles, by its rounded (neither depressed

nor margined) thorax, by its short and stout feet, and by the absence

of that singular appendage between the two lobes of the penulti-

mate joint of the tarsi, characterising the larger species of the genus

Parandra, whence it cannot be thought proper to unite them in

the same genus : and however there may exist some resemblance

between the genus Spondylis and that of Torneutes , in their ex-

ternal form, and especially their thorax and habitus, there are

yet essential differences in the internal structure of their mouth

and in their legs, so that it will be equally impossible to arrange

them together. It seems, therefore, indispensable to place this

new genus at the head of the Prionida, immediately in connection

with the family to which Parandra is removed, but of which last-

named genus the economy is identical with that of Torneutes.

Four specimens of Torneutes pallidipennis have been sent to

me, agreeing in every respect. One of them has been presented

to the Royal Collection of the University of Berlin ; two (one with

mutilated mandibles) are preserved in my own Collection ; the

fourth, destined for the Collection of the President of the Entomo-

logical Society, has been lost on its way to England, and was dis-

tinguished by a rudiment of a second small lateral abbreviated line,

which is to be seen in the annexed figure.

The name is derived from the Greek word ropvEvrne, tornator,

alluding to its corroding the bark and wood of a high tree, un-

known to me, in the province of Enlre Rios.

It is clear, that the natural character of a genus, borrowed from

a single species, may be very likely to embrace many of those marks

which are rather diagnostics of the species itself. I hope, there-

fore, to be excused, if in case of any further increase of the number

of species belonging to the new genus Torneutes, a modification of

its generic character, as it is established in this essay, should be

found requisite.

Berlin, Aug. 1835.

14

Mr. W. Elliott’s Account

III. A ccount of the Poma Sodomitica, or Dead-Sea Apples.

By Walter Elliot, Esq. M. E. S.

[Read August3, 1835.]

(Plate 3, fig. 1—5.)

I have the honour to forward to the Entomological Society specimens

of the Dead-Sea apples, and of an insect found therein, from the

country beyond the Jordan. I also observed it growing plentifully

on the different species of dwarf oaks in the Troad. I find the

following memorandum made at the time : — “ Among the trees”

(in the forest between Ein Jerah and Adjeloon in the Hauran)

“was one called Sajar el Fusli ( 1 j ; on which we found

what we conceived to be the true Dead-Sea apple described by

Strabo. The Arabs told us to bite it, and laughed when they saw

our mouths full of dry dust. It is about the shape and size of a

small fig, of a dark reddish purple colour, with rows of small thorns

in the upper end ; it seemed not to be a fruit, though called so by

the Arabs, but was attached artificially to the branches of this and

another sort of tree. The inside was full of a snuff-coloured spongy

substance, crumbling into dust when crushed. The less matured

ones were green and spongy inside, and unctuous to the touch

without. Most were perforated with a small hole. This and the

mode of their attachment, and the fact that they contained no seeds,

indicate them to be the wrork of an insect. The Arabs describe

another excrescence on the same tree of a yellowish colour called

Afs, which I believe to be the same excrescence in a less

mature state.” The insects sent herewith came out of the excre-

scences now forwarded on their way to England, and were found

among the cotton in which they were packed.

The Mala insana, Poma sodomitica, or apples of the Dead-Sea,

beautiful and tempting to the eye, but crumbling to dust and bitter

ashes at the touch, — have been the subject of much controversy

amongst travellers in the East and naturalists. Some authors,

indeed, as Riland, Maundrell, and Shaw, have doubted the existence

of this vegetable production, probably regarding it as one of the

inventions of that poetical fancy which so greatly abounds in the

works of Persian and other eastern writers. Its existence has,

15

of the Poma Sodomitica.

however, been so generally believed that we find historians and

poets speaking of it without any expression of doubt. Tacitus,

Strabo, and Josephus all mention it ; and Moore, who has col-

lected so much information relative to the natural productions of

the East, in the notes to Lalla Rookh, felicitously employs that now

under consideration in one of his beautiful similes, —

“ Like Dead-Sea fruits that tempt the eye.

But turn to ashes on the lips,” —

referring in the notes to a description of the apples of Isthakar,

sweet on one side and bitter on the other.

Still greater diversity of opinion has existed relative to the real

nature of these apples. Pococke supposed them to be pomegra-

nates which had remained on the trees for several years, whereby

the interior is dried to dust, although the outside may remain fair.

Hasselquist pronounced it to be the fruit of the egg-plant night-

shade ( Solarium Melon gena ), growing near Jericho, and in the

neighbourhood of the Dead-Sea ; and which, when attacked by a

Tenthredo, converts the whole of the inside into dust. M. Seetzen

supposes it to be the fruit of a species of cotton-tree growing

on the plain of El Gbor, and called Abcschaez, having no pulp,

but the interior filled with cotton. Chateaubriand considered that

he had solved the question, on discovering a shrub near the mouth

of the river Jordan, which bears a fruit like a small Egyptian

lemon, which, before it is ripe, is filled with a corrosive saline juice,

and, when dead, yields a blackish seed compared to ashes, and

resembling bitter pepper in its taste. Mr. Jolliffe thought he had

found the true Dead-Sea apples in the fruit of a shrub growing near

Jericho, of the size of a small apricot, and of a bright yellow colour.

And, lastly, Captains Irby and Mangles regarded it as the seed of

the Oskar plant, growing on the shores of the Dead-Sea. Mr.

Conder, who has collected and reviewed these various opinions in

his description of Palestine, forming one of the volumes of “ The

Modern Traveller ,” has considered that none of these statements

agreed with the descriptions given by Tacitus and Josephus, adding

with much sagacity, “It is possible, indeed, that what they describe

“ may have originated, like the oak galls in this country, in the

“ work of some insect, for these remarkable productions sometimes

“ acquire a considerable size and beauty of colour.”

On the 2d June, 1835, a memoir was read before the Linnaean

Society by Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq., F. R. S., V. P. L. S., &c.,

and published in the last part of the Transactions of that Society,

(vol. xvii. p. 445,) giving a description of the real Dead-Sea apple,

brought from the mountains in the neighbourhood of the Dead-Sea,

by the Hon. Robert Cur von, and “ which now proves to be a gall

16

Foma Soclornitica.

“ upon a species of oak, containing an insect.” The plant is stated

to be probably the Quercus foliis dentato-aculeatis of Hasselquist.

Of the interior of the gall, it is added, that it may truly be said of

it, that it is “ as bitter as gall.” The gall itself is described as

pear-shaped, “ with a circle of small sharp-pointed protuberances

“ on the upper part of it, which appear to be formed by the insect

“ for air, or defence, or some other purpose. In each of the galls

“ there is an aperture, through which the insect escapes, and in the

“ centre there is a small round hole or nidus where it lodged.”

There is also the following postcript : “ Since writing the above I

“ find the leaves of the oak to be those of Quercus infectoria, which

is accurately figured in Olivier’s Travels in the Levant, and that

“ the galls are identical with those of commerce.* The tree grows

“ abundantly throughout Syria. The insect has been named by

“ Olivier Diplolepis, and it is also accurately figured by him in the

“ above-mentioned work, but be does not appear to be aware of

“ the galls being the same with the Mala insana.”'\

The galls described by Mr. Lambert seem identical with those of

Mr. Elliott, although there are several minute discrepancies, as well

as additional observations, which an examination of the latter have

enabled me to make. That these galls are the true Dead-Sea apples

there can no longer be a question ; nothing can be more beautiful

than their rich, glossy, purplish red exterior— nothing more bitter

than their porous and easily pulverized interior. Mr. Elliott’s

galls did not exhibit the regular transverse series of large pointed

protuberances described by Mr. Lambert ; instead of these, there

were numerous irregularly placed and smaller elevations, generally

obtuse, occasionally pointed ; but these are integral portions of the

gall, and it is difficult to conceive how they can serve the purposes

suggested by Mr. Lambert. Notwithstanding the large size of

these galls, (two inches long and an inch and a half in diameter,)

each contains but a single insect, which makes its escape in the

winged state, having consumed but a very small portion of the

centre of the gall. The same circumstance occurs in some of our

British galls ; and it must be regarded as a curious fact, that so

large and useless a provision is made for the insect.

The mode in which the gall is attached to the skin of the plant is

curious, and unlike that of any other which I have seen; the base of the

* The galls of Cynips Quercus Tojce, which are found upon Quercus Pyrenaica

Willdenow (Q. Tosa Bose.), and which are figured in the Journal d’Hist. Nat.

tom.ii. pi. 32, and in Loudon’s Arboretum Britannicum, p. 1843, have a much

greater resemblance to the Dead-Sea apples than the real gall-nuts.

+ A copy of Olivier’s figure of this gall is given in the Arboretum Britannicum,

p. 1931.

Foma Sodomitica.

17

gall rising upwards on each side, and bending inwards so as to

clasp the extremity of the twig somewhat like a pair of wide and

curved nippers. I cannot agree with Mr. Lambert in regarding

these galls as identical with those of commerce ; the latter, as is

well known, are not larger than a marble, and the interior is so

hard that it can scarcely be cut with a pen-knife ; the exterior, on

the other hand, is of a dull and pale whitish brown colour. In this

opinion, I am confirmed by J. F. Royle, Esq., Professor of Materia

Medica in the King’s College, London. In other respects, as in

shape and protuberances, and in the circumstance of sheltering but

a single inhabitant, &c. the two species of galls resemble each other.

Amongst Mr. Lambert’s specimens of the galls, a true gall fly,

belonging to the genus Cynips or Diplolepis, as Olivier misnamed

it, was found, of which a figure was introduced into his original

drawing, but this figure has not been published in Mr. Lambert’s

memoir. I have, however, been kindly permitted to introduce a

copy of it into this memoir, but regret that I am unable to give a

detailed description of it, or to institute a comparison between it

and the Cynips Gallce tinctorice* or the Cynips of the gall of com-

merce ; from which, however, it must evidently be specifically dis-

tinct, and consequently require a new specific name. I am ena-

bled, however, to add a description of an Ichneumonideous insect

which inhabits these galls, and which I have no hesitation in con-

sidering as parasitic upon the Cynips of the Dead-Sea or Mad apple.

Family Ichneumonid^e.

Sub-Family Ichneumonides.

Genus Pimpla.

(Sub-Genus Ephialtes, Grav.)

Species Eph. Sodomiticus, Westw.

E. niger, segmento 2do latitudine longiori, reliquis brevioribus ;

pedibus rufis, tibiis et tarsis posticis obscurioribus ; oviductu

corpore dimidio longiori.

Longitudino corporis lin. 5, ovid. lin. 8.

Habitat parasitice in gallis vulgo “ Poma Sodomitica ” dictis.

In Musaeo Soc. Ent. Londin.

Statura et summa affinitas Eph. tuberculati, messoris et mani-

* It is quite evident from Olivier’s subsequent description of Cynips Gallte tincto-

ri«, (Encycl. M6th., vi.281, C.scriptorum, Kirby and Spence, Intr. i.319,) that he

had confounded together two distinct species of galls, and the flies by which they

are produced, namely, the Ink gall and the Mad apple. I would propose the name

of Cynips insana for the insect of the latter. Olivier’s figures of the Mad apple and

its inhabitant are copied in the Arboretxim Britunnicum, pp. 1931, 1932.

VOL. II.

C

18

Pomci Sodomitica.

festatoris. Caput cum antennis nlgris, harum apice extremo

subpallidioribus articulisque duobus basalibus subtiis inter-

dum flavis, clypeo in medio rufescenti, palpis albidis. Thorax

niger, confertissime punctatus, scutello semicirculari. Pedes

quatuor antici rufi, femoribus basi pallidioribus, coxis albidis,

tarsorum apice fusco ; pedes 2 postici coxis femoribusque rufis,

horum apice extremo fuscescenti, tibiis tarsisque fuscis, illarum

basi subalbido fasciaque lata centrali pallide fuscis. Alee hyalinae

vix fumatae, nervis fuscis, stigmateque nigro, areola subtrian-

gulari, antice baud appendiculata. Abdomen feminae, capite cum

thorace dimidio longius, fere thoracis latitudine, subcylindricum,

nigrum, punctatum, segmentorum margine et tuberculo laterali

elevato nitidioribus, segmento lmo subquadrato, angulis anticis

rotundatis, utrinque impressione obliqua notato ; 2ndo latitu-

dine dimidio longiori ; Stio quadrato segmentisque sequentibus

brevioribus et longitudine decrescentibus. Oviductus corpore

toto dimidio longior, vaginis nigris subhirtis, terebra pallida.

(J. O. W.)

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES.

PLATE III.

Fig. 1. The Dead-Sea Apple of the natural size suspended from a twig and ex-

hibiting the mode of suspension.

Fig. 2. The same opened.

Fig. 3. One of the larger leaves of the tree upon which it is found.

Fig. 4. Cynips insanu.

Fig. 5. Ephialtes Sodomiticus.

IV. Descriptions of several new Species of exotic Hemip-

terous Insects. By J. O. Westwood, F. L. S., fyc.

[Read November 2, 1835.]

Ordo HEMIPTERA.

Sub-Ordo Heteropterita, Kirby.

Sectio Terrestria.

Familia Pentatomid^e.

Genus. Eumetopia. Plate II. fig. 4.

Scutcllcrcc affinis. Corpus parvum, obovatum ; abdomine scutello

fere obtecto.

Caput breve, transversum, angulis anticis ante oculos productis et

interne curvatis, clypeoque in medio in lobum parvum qua-

19

New Species of exotic Hemipterous Insects.

dratum producto. Oculi Iaterales postici. Ocelli 2, inter se et

oculos aeque distantes.

Antennce (4 a ) thorace breviores, 5-articulatae, articulo 2do brevis-

simo, reliquis longitudine fere aequalibus, basali paullo bre-

viori et crassiori, inter oculos et basin rostri, sub capitis mar-

gine insertae.

Promuscis (4 b) elongata, 4-articulata, articulis fere aequalibus.

Thorax transversus, antice angustior, lateribus paullo rotundatis.

Scutellum sub-quadratum, postice rotundatum, abdomen fere

obtegens. Hemelytrorum membrana nervis circiter G longi-

tudinalibus, intermediis uni- vel bi-furcatis. Tibiae spinosae.

Tarsi 3-articulati, articulo 2do brevissimo ; ungues membrana

bipartita instructi.

Obs. — The remarkable structure of the head in the insect com-

posing the type of this genus is totally unlike that of any other of

the order with which I am acquainted.

Typus. Eumetopia jissiccps. Fig. 4.

Palide fusco-testacea, undique fusco-punctata, capitis basi, fascid

antica thoracis (in medio interrupt^) maculisque 4 scutelli

(quarum antica majori) nigricantibus. Hemelytrorum corio

lineis duabus fuscantibus, interna in macula pai'va desinenti.

Long. corp. lin. 3. Expans. alar. lin. 6.

Habitat in America meridionali.

In Mus. Dom. Hope, olim in Mus. Haworth.

Genus. Oncoscelis. Plate II. fig. 5.

Genus novum, e familia “ Scutati ,” Burm. ( Pentatomites, La-

portii) Tesseratomid.es cum Pentatomidis conj ungens.

Corpus magnum, depressum ; capite parvo ; abdomine magno, rotun-

dato.

Caput parvum, subtrigonum, antice paullo production, subbifidum.

Oculi magni Iaterales. Ocelli 2 postici.

Antennce corporis dimidii longitudine, ante oculos insertae, 5-articu-

latae, articulo lmo parvo; 2do, 4to et 5to elongatis, subaequa-

libus ; 3tio, lmi magnitudine ; 5to ad apicem attenuato. Pro-

muscis (5 a) 4-articulata, ad basin pedum intermediorum fere

extensa ; articulo 2do reliquis multo longiori, his brevibus.

Thorax magnus, transversus, depressus, abdominis basis latitudine,

angulis lateralibus subacutis. Scutellum magnum, triangulare,

apice rotundato. Hemelytrorum corium nervo valido sub

o

c

20

Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of new

costali, cum multis aliis minoribus per discum ejus curren-

tibus ; membrane apicali nervis circiter 20 longitudinalibus.

Sternum et abdomen subtus mutica.

Pedes crassi, anteriores 4 sat breves, postici 2 (praesertim in $ ) in-

crassati ; femoribus elongatis, tibiis brevibus, ad basin curvatis

et versus apicem internum spind validcl armatis. Tarsi 3-arti-

culati, articulo lmo crasso, subtus spongioso, 2do brevi, 3tio

brevi ad apicem incrassato, unguibus 2 sat validis, singulo

membrana instructo (5 b, pes posticus $ ).

Abdomen maximum, rotundatum, depression, marginibus detectis.

Obs. — The possession of tarsal pulvilli, and the insertion of the an-

tennae, distinguish this genus from Aspongopus, Lop., whilst the simple

sternum and abdomen remove it alike from Rhaphigaster, Edessa,

Tesseratoma, Oncomeris and Agapophyta, which last three genera,

moreover, have only four joints in the antennae. In its simple

sternum and abdomen and five-jointed antennae it resembles the

true Pentatomidce, but its habit is certainly much nearer to that of

the genera above mentioned.

Typus. Oncoscelis Australasia;. Fig. 5.

Ferruginea : antennarum basi, scutello, abdominis lateribus, tibiis-

que nigricantibus.

Long. corp. lin. 14, latit. abdominis lin. 9.

Habitat in Nova Hollandia.

In M us. Soc. Linn., Zool., et Entomol. Lond., Hope et nostr.

Caput fuscum, supra luteo-variegatum, marginibus lateralibus

elevatis, lineaque impress^ e clypeo ad verticem. Antennae

fuscae, articulis duobus apicalibus ferrugineis. Thorax ferru-

gineus, antice pallidior, punctatus, lineisque multis transversis

impressus, marginibus lateralibus paullo elevatis et linea tenui

nigra notatis ; ocellis duobus ovatis, nigris, versus marginem

anticum positis. Scutellum nigrum, maculis duabus lateralibus

ad angulos anticos, linea tenui centrali et regione apicali fer-

rugineis, apice ipso nigro. Hemelytrorum corium ferrugineum,

nervis fulvis. Membrana apicalis fusco-senea, nitida. Abdo-

men lateribus supra nigricantibus. Corpus totum subtus fer-

rugineum. Pedes ferruginei, tibiis nigricantibus.

Genus. Cyclogaster. Plate II. fig. 6.

Tesseratoma; affinis. Corpus magnum, planum, submembranaceum,

abdomine fere circular]’, thorace depresso.

Caput (6 a) parvum, planum, fereovatum, clypeo linea longitudinali

21

Species of exotic Hemipterous Insects.

eentrali impressamargineque acuto, ad oculos in emarginatura

antica thoracica receptum. Oculi parvi postici laterales, ocelli

2 minuti distantes. v

Antennce capite dimidio longiores, sub clypei margine insertae, de-

pressae, 4-articulatae, articulo lmo brevissimo, occulto ; 2ndo

omnium longissimo, Stio brevi, 4to paullo longiori, elongato-

ovato, praecedenti vix crassiori.

Promuscis brevissima, pedes anticos vix attingens, 4-articulata,

articulo 2ndo omnium longissimo.

Thorax transversus, antice vix declivis, supra scutellum vix pro-

ductus, marginibus lateralibus antice rotundatis ; antice pro re-

ceptione capitis, emarginatus. Scutellum mediocre, triangulare.

Sternum haud productum.

Pedes simplices sat graciles, femoribus cylindricis, tibiis rectis,

tarsis (ut mihi videtur) tantum biarticulatis, unguibus mem-

brana bifida instructis.

Hemelytra abdominis latera baud tegentia, corio vix coriaceo, nervis

perpaucis et indistinctis, membranaque apicali nervis circiter

14 distinctis, longitudinalibus, interdum furcatis.

Abdomen magnum, fere circulare, supra depressum, apice emargi-

nato, lateribus nudis.

Obs. — The simple sternum, rounded and depressed form, and

very short antennae and rostrum, will distinguish this curious

genus from Tesseratoma, Aspongopus and others of the Scutati,

which have only four joints in the antennae.

Typus. Cyclogaster pallidus. Fig. 6.

Pallide lutescens ; capite, scutello, et thorace tenuissime transverse

punctatis, antennarum articulis intermediis obscurioribus ru-

fescentibus.

Long. corp. lin. 12|, lat. abdom. lin. 8.

Habitat in Gambid Africae.

In Mus. Dom. Hope.

Obs. — Color lutescens in insecto viventi forsan viridis.

Familia Capsid/e.

Genus. Eucerocoris. Plate II. fig. 7.

Genus novum, e familia Capsidarum, inter Phytocoridem et Cap-

sum intermedium, longitudine antennarum e Cimicibus omnibus

Linnaeanis distinction.

Corpus parvum, gracile, Myocoridem parvam simulans.

Caput (7 a ) parvum, transversum, oculis lateralibus, ocellis desti-

tutum. Antennce corpore toto fere triplo longiores, 4-articu-

22

Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of new

latse, articulis tribus primis longitudine fere aequalibus, imo

crassiori, 4to brevi, filiformi (vix setaceo). Promuscis ad basin

pedum posticorum extensa, 4-articulata, articulo 3tio longiori.

Thorax in lobos duos divisus, lobo antico parvo capite an-

gustiori, postico vero magno convexo. Hemelytra (7 c )

abdomine dimidio longiora, tota fere membranacea, stigmate

elongato nervoque brevi, ad apicem ejus emittente cum nervo

altero (e basi interno membranse emisso) connexo. Pedes elon-

gati, graciles, femoribus posticis paullo curvatis.

Abdomen 5 ut in Miride formatum. Tarsi 3-articulati, ungues

pulvillis duobus instructi (7 b).

\

Typus. Eucerocoris nigriceps. Fig. 7.

Testacea, capite supra antennisque nigris ; hemelytris et alis

fuscis.

Long. corp. lin. 3j. Exp. alar. lin. 7. Long, antenn. lin. 9|.

Habitat ? In Mus. nostr. olim Haworthii.

Caput supra nigrum, nitidum, politum ; subtus cum promuscide

testaceo. Antennae nigrae, articulo Imo ad basin flavido.

Thorax testaceus, nitidus. Scutellum fuscum. Abdomen et

pedes testacea ; tarsis omnibus, femoribus posticis ad apicem

tibiisque posticis fuscis. Alac cum hemelytris fuscae, horum

macula parva basali albida, stigmateque rufescenti, nervis

nigris.

Obs. — I have seen but a single specimen of the curious insect

which forms the type of this genus, which I purchased at the sale of

the late Mr. Haworth’s Collection. As there was no label attached

to it, I am not aware of its locality. I should, however, conjecture,

from its general appearance, that it is an inhabitant of Brazil.

Familia Reduviid.e.

Genus. Enicocephalus. Plate II. fig. 8.

Corpus parvum, oblongum, depressum, antice attenuatum.

Caput (8 a, 8 b) in lobos duos division, quorum posterior est glo-

bosus ocellisque in portione ejus antica positis, oculis magnis

lateralibus in basin portionis anticae capitis locatis.

Antennae (8 a) thorace vix longiores, articulis 4, ultimo baud seti-

formi, prsecedenti saltern crassitudine, interdum illo crassiori

(articulis minutissimis rudimentalibus inter articulos 1 & 2,

2 & 3, et 3 & 4). Promuscis (8 b) brevissima, crassa, arcu-

ata, ultra basin portionis anticm capitis baud protensa, 3-ar-

ticulata, articulo 2ndo longiori.

23

Species of exotic Hemipterous Insects.

Thorax subconicus (8 a), in tres nodos transverse constrictus ;

margine postico valde emarginato.

Pedes 2 antici dilatati, subraptorii, femoribus crassis, tibiarnm

apice (8 c) bispinoso, serieque setarum rigidarum armato, tarsis

anticis compressis, (ut videtur 2-articulatis, articulo lmo bre-

vissimo), ungue unico valido armatis. Pedes 4 postici graciles,

simplices ; tarsis (ut videtur) 3-articulatis (8 d), articulo lmo

brevissimo, 2do brevi tertioque longiori.

Hemelytra (8 e) homogenea, nervis perpaucis crassis e basi ad api-

cem extensis, in speciebus paullo discrepantibus, sed cellulam

magnam centralem versus apicem hemelytrorum formantibus.

Obs. — The very remarkable head, thorax, fore-legs and hemelytra

distinguish these curious insects, not only from the remainder ot the

extensive family of the Reduviidee, but also from every other Hemip-

terous group. I am acquainted with four species; one from the

West Indies, another from Bengal, the third imbedded in Gum

Anime, and the fourth from Van Diemen’s Land, a remarkably

wide range for a group like this, which, from the singularity of its

structure, might be presumed to be very limited in the extent of

its geographical distribution.

Species 1. (Typus.) Enicoceplialus flavicollis. Plate II. fig. 8.

Fuscus, an tennis pallidioribus ; thoracis lobis duobus anticis, pedi-

bus omnibus, rostro, et rotula caput cum thorace connectenti

flavis ; scutello nigro, antennarum articulo ultimo praecedenti

paullo crassiori.

Long. corp. lin. 2.

Habitat in Insula Sancti Vincentii. Dom. Guilding.

In Mus. Dom. Hope.

Species 2. Enicoceplialus hasalis.

Fusco-niger, antennarum articulo ultimo praecedenti fere graci-

liori ; capitis lobo postico, rotulaque caput cum thorace con-

nectenti obscure fulvescentibus ; hemelytris fuscis, basi fulvis,

portione interna pallidiori ; pedibus fulvescentibus, femoribus

in medio tibiisque versus apicem fuscis.

Long. corp. lin. 3%.

Habitat in Bengalia. In Mus. Dom. Flope.

Species 3. Enicoceplialus fulvescens.

Pallide fulvescens, oculis nigris, antennis (nisi articulis 1 et 4 et

annulis rudimentalibus albidis), pedibus anticis thoracisque

24

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

lobo intermedio obscure fuscis ; thoracis angulis posticis al-

bidis, nervis hemelytrorum obscurioribus.

Long. corp. lin. 3.

Individuum vidi unicum in Gumma Anime inclusum. In Mus.

Dom. Strong.

Species 4. Enicocephalus Tasmanicus.

Piceus, pilosus, antennis concoloribus ; pedibus fuscis, geniculis

omnibus, margineque interno femorum anticorum fulvescen-

tibus ; hemelytris et alis pallid^ fuscis, nervis obscurioribus ;

margine externo hemelytrorum ad basin albido.

Long. corp. (alis clausis) lin. 3f .

Habitat in Terra Van Diemenii.

In Mus. nostr. Communicavit Dom. Ewing, M. E. S.

V. Remarks on the Turnip Fly (Haltica nemorum). By

Henry Le Keux, Esq.

(Tab. IV.)

Having thrown my notes together relating to the Turnip Fly, with

such additional information upon the subject generally as I have been

enabled to acquire, I have now the pleasure to lay them before the

Society. I have made drawings (which I send with this) of the

eggs, of the larva, and of its mode of burrowing in the turnip leaf,

and also of the perfect insect, which, together with the accompany-

ing figure of the pupa, by Mr. J. O. Westwood, will make the

series of figures of the different states of the insect complete. I

also send a small portion of a turnip leaf, with three eggs of the

Haltica upon it, preserved in spirits.

Having witnessed the destructive effects of the Turnip Fly in the

year 1830, whilst lodging at a farm-house in Devonshire, I was led

to observe its habits, and to try many experiments, in the hope of

being able to find some means of guarding against its attacks.

My first observations were made upon a field of about eight acres,

forming the apex of a hill, which was sown with turnips. When

the young plants were just rising above the ground, the wind was

in the south-east, and continued to blow from that point for more

than a week, carrying in its course the scent of the turnips over

25

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

the fields lying to the north-west, and the turnips on the north-

west side of the field were so destroyed by the fly that nearly an

acre was quite bare, whilst the south-east side was not attacked in

any perceptible degree until after the plants had attained to such

a size as not to be much injured by their depredations. This cir-

cumstance led me to conclude that the fly had been attracted by

the scent, which subsequent observations have confirmed. When I

became familiar with the form and character of the insect, I very

soon found that its locality was not confined to turnip fields, but

that it was to be met with in grass lands which had not been

ploughed for many years, and where no turnips were to be found

within half a mile. I have since found them in abundance in dry

situations in all grass lands where I have taken the trouble to

search for them. Although I found the insect in such abundance,

I was unsuccessful in my endeavours to discover its mode of breed-

ing until after five years, when a small piece of land (the upper

part of a field sown with barley) in a sheltered situation with a

south aspect, and which had been well dressed with lime, was sown,

early in May, with white stone turnips for the table, but they no

sooner appeared above ground than they were destroyed by the

fly ; it was then sown again and harrowed, and the surface thickly

strewed over with wood ashes, but the plants were again devoured

as rapidly as before, and not more than a dozen acquired the

rough leaf, and a few of these survived till the leaves grew to be

six or seven inches in length, but they were perforated in every

part. Upon examining one of these leaves (a portion of which,

preserved dry, I send with this paper) against the light with a

magnifying glass, I perceived a larva between the upper and under

surface, a careful inspection of which led me to think it the larva

of a beetle, and probably of the one I had been so long in search.

I hastened back to the field, and carefully removed the earth

around the plant from which the leaf had been taken, and there

had the satisfaction to find the specimens of the larvae and pupae

which I sent to my friend Mr. Raddon, who did me the favour

to transmit them to the Entomological Society.

I had previously endeavoured to breed them by keeping a num-

ber confined in a small box covered with gauze wire, but as I

could in this way only feed them by dropping in fresh bits of turnip

leaf daily, I did not succeed in my object, although the insects ap-

peared healthy, and I kept them alive in this manner from July

until February in the following year. The reason of my failure is

now sufficiently obvious, since it is necessary that the leaf should

be in a growing state, otherwise the eggs which are laid upon it

26

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

shrivel up when the leaf becomes dry. Being still at fault as to

the origin of the larvae, I captured ten males and ten females in

pairs, and inclosed them in a glass tube covered at each end with

gauze wire, into which I introduced a single leaf of turnip, with

water to keep it fresh ; by this means I was enabled to examine the

insects and leaf on all sides with a magnifying glass at any time

without disturbing them. Having, previous to introducing the leaf,

ascertained with a strong magnifier that there were no eggs or

larvae upon it, on the following day I had the satisfaction to per-

ceive five small, smooth, oval-shaped eggs adhering to the under-

side of the leaf, and so nearly resembling it in colour that I was no

longer surprised that they should hitherto have escaped my obser-

vation. This leaf was removed with the eggs upon it and placed

in water, and its place supplied by a fresh one, which, on the fol-

lowing day, had three eggs upon it, and the third leaf four eggs,

each of which leaves was placed separately in w’ater. The fourth

leaf I suffered to remain with the insects a week, supplying it with

fresh water daily, and at the end of that time it had thirty-one eggs

upon it. In two other glass tubes I confined single pairs of insects

with a leaf in each, upon which I never found more than a single

egg deposited on the same day, and in those leaves taken from the

field with larvae in them (some containing six) no two of them

were of the same growth. I found great difficulty in preserving

the leaves during the length of time necessary for the hatching of

the eggs, and as it would have been impossible to have preserved

them long enough for the feeding of the larvae, I began to despair

of success, until I observed that in those leaves taken with larva in

them from the field, it was not uncommon for the larva to leave

the burrow it had first commenced, and travelling (which from its

formation I had supposed it incapable of doing) to a distant part of

the leaf, form a new one. About the time, therefore, when I ex-

pected the eggs to hatch, I placed fresh leaves by the side of the

old ones, to which the young larvm soon found their wray and

lodged themselves. The egg hatches in ten days from the time

it is laid, and the larva immediately begins to eat its way into

the leaf, and form a burrow by feeding upon the pulp between the

upper and under surface of the leaf, which however is not easily

perceptible to the eye unless held up against the light, when it ap-

pears as represented in the drawing at A., although the track is

sufficiently obvious after the larva has left it, and it has become dry,

as shown at B. The larva (of which a magnified specimen is shown

in the drawing) is full fed, and goes into the earth at the end of

sixteen days, burying itself about an inch and a half below the sur-

27

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

face, and in such a situation, that the turnip leaf above may afford

shelter in case of rain. I have reason to believe that it remains in

the earth about a fortnight before changing into the perfect beetle.

Some of the first specimens of larvae and pupae which I took in the

field, I placed in finely pulverized and very dry earth, and in a few

days they were shrivelled up ; the others I also put into fine earth

and saturated it with water. Unfortunately there was no opening at

the bottom of the cup ; and the next day, perceiving that the earth

was still saturated with water, I drained it and removed the larva,

but they were all dead ; this accident may serve to account for the

scarcity of the insects after very wet seasons. I have been equally

unfortunate in my last attempt to ascertain the precise time between

the larva and the perfect insect, for I covered the earth in which I

had placed them so closely, on account of their small size, to pre-

vent them from escaping unobserved, that the earth became mouldy,

and they were all destroyed ; but I have a great many specimens

of the beetle produced from larvae, which I fed and placed in a

garden-pot enclosed in a cage of fine gauze wire, but they, being

introduced at various times as they became full fed, I could not as-

certain the precise time of any individual specimen.

Not being an entomologist, 1 cannot pretend to describe the in-

sect scientifically, but it may perhaps be as well to state that, al-

though commonly spoken of as a fly, it is a small beetle (Haltica

nemorum J of a black colour, with a longitudinal stripe of light

brown on each of the wing cases, and it is furnished with six legs,

the hinder pair of which are powerful springers, like those of a flea,

by means of which it is enabled to leap a distance of from twelve

to eighteen inches without the aid of its wings, which latter I have

not observed it to use except in warm sunshine, or when the ther-

mometer stood above 70° in the shade. One day in May, 1836,

when the thermometer stood at 75° in the shade, during a light

south wind, great numbers of them were on the wing, which, from

their minute size, I should not perhaps have observed but for the

circumstance of their striking against me and falling, before they

could recover their wings, upon a piece of white paper which was

before me at the time, and I counted upwards of twenty in less

than half an hour. They were all proceeding southward. When

many of them are confined together, an odour like that of the “ Lady

Bird” beetle is perceptible, and is very strong from one that is

crushed. They pair towards the end of May if the weather is

warm, and continue to do so during the months of June, July, and

August. They live through the winter secreted in the crevices of

old timber, the rough bark of trees, and particularly in dry, loose

28 Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

banks. They occasionally leave their hiding-places in the winter

when an unusually warm day occurs ; at such times I have met

with them in the months of January, February, and March, on a

barkless and decaying stump of a tree, on the side of a dry bank,

and on clods of earth, when they wei'e as active as in the summer,

but only when the sun has been shining, and in a situation sheltered

from the wind. But those which I have discovered in their haunts

in cold weather wrere torpid or inactive ; indeed I thought them

dead until the warmth of my hand, in which I was conveying a

number of them home, revived them, and in a few minutes they

had all skipped away. From the fact of their being found in such

various situations, I think there can be little doubt that they breed

in many other plants beside turnips, probably in any of the cruci-

form kind. The weed growing in the hedges, and generally so

annoyingly abundant in turnip fields, and called Chorleigh by the

Devonshire farmers, affords the Haltiea a welcome feast towards

the end of April and during May, when I have found plants of this

kind covered with them, and every leaf pierced full of holes, but

these are presently deserted when any turnips appear in the neigh-

bourhood.

I am sorry to be obliged to add, that in the more important

object of my search for some antidote to their destructive attacks

upon the young turnip, I have not hitherto been successful, although

I have devoted much time to it, not neglecting any opportunity of

trying such experiments as I thought likely to effect so desirable a

purpose. The insects being so universally spread over the country,

places the possibility of exterminating them out of the question.

From the manner in which it breeds, it is obvious that no injury,

or none of any consequence, is done to the turnip by the larva, the

mischief being effected by the insect in its perfect state, which,

having secreted itself through the winter, comes from its hiding-

place with the return of warm wreather, with a keen appetite, and

is attracted from all quarters by the scent of turnips with as much

certainty as the crow is attracted by the smell of carrion to feast

upon its favourite food.

The inefficacy of lime as an antidote was strikingly apparent

during my first observations, where the land was dressed with it

(forty bushels to an acre) immediately before the seeds were sown,

and when the plants came up and the fly was observed attacking

them, lime dust was thrown over them, so that many of the plants

were quite white with a coat of it. Notwithstanding this I found as

many flies upon the whitened plants as upon any of those which were

free from lime, and they tvere eventually devoured. In one part

29

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

where the fly was particularly numerous, I marked out a small

square, and with a syringe washed over every plant within it, singly,

with sulphate of potash ; but although it was so strong as to destroy

some of the plants, and to leave a white sediment when dry upon

all, I found the flies upon them the next day nearly as numerous as

before this application. I wetted some of the plants with distilled

water, (spring-water does not adhere so well to the plant,) and

these were entirely free from the fly so long as they remained met ;

and if one happened to alight upon a wet plant, it instantly sprang

off again. But of all the numerous applications which I tried upon

the leaf, none were effectual in deterring the fly, though detrimental

to the plant itself; and I found any attempts of this kind must be

unavailing, because although the upper side of the leaf may by

any preparation be rendered unpalatable, and even poisonous, to

the insect, it will still eat away the underside with impunity, and

leave nothing but the upper epidermis or skin.

I next tried various matters mixed up with or strewed upon the

earth, that might be offensive to the fly by the odour or effluvia ex-

haling from them. The first of these was powdered sulphur strewed

over about one-tenth of an inch thick ; the effluvia from this was

perceptible to me when standing near it if the sun was shining, but

so far from deterring the flies, I thought they appeared more nu-

merous in this spot, and it certainly improved the appearance of

the plants growing in it.

Amongst many other things, I tried snuff and assafoetida, and a

box of the powder for preserving furs from moth, sold under the

title of “ Anti Tinea," but none of them had the slightest effect.

Latterly I found it more convenient to try the effect of various

substances on the side of a cage containing a great number of the

flies, and having placed a small piece of carbonate of ammonia there,

to my great delight all the flies drew away from it and kept in the

further side of the cage ; upon changing its position to the side

where they had all congregated, they immediately began to move

away again. I then took a glass tube containing a number of

them, and placing the lower gauze wire upon a large piece so that

the effluvia from it might pass through the tube, when they in-

stantly began to leap violently, but in a few seconds fell to the

bottom motionless ; I immediately removed them, but they were

quite dead, for not one recovered though laid upon fresh leaves.

I congratulated myself on having at last found the object of my

search, and went the same evening up the hill and sowed a patch

with turnip seed, and on the fourth day (which I waited for with

impatience) when I expected the plants to appear, I strewed it over

30

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

with the ammonia broken into fragments about the size of a pea, but

when the turnips began to show above ground, my disappointment

was extreme, to find that the effluvia was destructive to the young

plant if a bit was lying within an inch of it, and those plants which

were not injuriously affected by it were attacked by the fly. Not-

withstanding this remarkable failure, I still think that the antidote,

if ever found, must be sought for in some effluvia or odour which

may be either offensive to the insect when near, or so overpower

the scent of the turnip as to prevent the fly from distinguishing

and being attracted by it. Or it may perhaps be equally advan-

tageous, to divert their attacks by a more attractive food, such as

sowing the white stone turnip mixed with the Swedish turnip ; for I

have invariably found where this has been done that the former are

first attacked, and sometimes, indeed generally, nearly destroyed

before the latter have been touched, and by that time have grown

to such a size as not to be materially injured by them ; and in sea-

sons when the fly has not been very numerous, the “ Swede” has

not had a single puncture upon it, whilst every leaf of a white stone

turnip, by the side of it, has been pierced full of holes. The last

experiment which I tried had the appearance of being more suc-

cessful than any of the preceding ones, but as it was made so late

in the season, (the latter end of August,) and several days’ rain

(the best protection) occurred at the most critical time, it can hardly

be called a fair trial. Having sown a little piece (a yard square)

with turnips on the hill, swarming with the fly, I poured over it

(on the fourth day) a quart of a mixture composed of one once of

tar, one once of olive-oil, and two ounces of strong caustic potash,

well mixed together, and then shaken up with the requisite quan-

tity of water. Not many of the seeds came up (probably from the

lateness of the season), but those were of a healthy colour, and ac-

quired the rough leaf without any of them being punctured by the

fly, excepting a few on the windward side of the patch.

This mixture formed no protection from the slug by which the

plants were all soon eaten off. Having now left the county, I have

no means of pursuing the inquiry, but I cannot help thinking this

experiment would be worth repeating on a larger scale.

I believe it is not generally known that the Wire- Worm and the

Ant are both entitled to a considerable share of the odium usually

cast upon the fly alone ; the latter, however, on account of the great

devastation committed by it, is justly entitled to be considered as

the most formidable enemy of the turnip crop. The wire-worm

seldom feeds above ground in the day-time unless it be cloudy and

dark ; at such times I have observed them devouring the young

31

Mr. Henry Le Keux or the Turnip Fly.

turnip plants before the rough leaf has been formed, hut their most

destructive operations are carried on beneath the surface of the

earth, where they attack the root ; in the very early state of the

plant, after eating this through, the upper part of the plant is gra-

dually drawn down into the earth and devoured, so that the plants

disappear without any perceptible cause and without any trace of

them being left. In the more advanced state of the plant their de-

vastation appears to be confined to eating through the root, and

having thus killed one plant they proceed to another. If a turnip

plant appears drooping (as if from the want of water) whilst those

in its neighbourhood are fresh and erect, a wire-worm (sometimes

half a dozen) will be sure to be found at the root, if the earth

around it be carefully removed. I think it probable that the mole

may prove the best protection against the ravages of this insect,

because I observed that seven years ago moles were very numerous

all over the farm, and at that time the wire-worm was never found

to be injurious to any of the crops ; but a war of extermination

has ever since been most sedulously carried on against the mole,

and with such success that it has become a rare thing to meet with

upon the farm. The wire-worm, on the contrary, is now so abund-

ant as to cause very serious and perceptible injury by laying bare

large patches in the different crops.

When the land is in a very dry state, every agriculturist must have

experienced the great length of time the seed will remain in it without

signs of vegetation, until after rain has fallen ; and then he is sur-

prised at the small number of plants in proportion to the seed sown,

perhaps only one in about one thousand. In an instance of this kind,

whilst searching for the Haltica with a magnifying glass, I observed

many ants travelling along, each bearing similar particles of something

in their mandibles, which, upon closer inspection, I found to be turnip

seeds. As the ants were to be found all over the field busily occupied,

if each of them carried off only one seed, the crop from those re-

maining would not require much thinning with the hoe afterwards.

I fully intended to have traced some of them to their nests, and to

have ascertained whether their granaries contained any store of

turnip seeds, but accidental circumstances and other engagements

prevented my doing so. Perhaps some one more at leisure than

myself will find an opportunity of making the examination. With

a view to guard against this evil, before sowing the seeds, I im-

mersed them for five minutes in a solution of one drachm of cor-

rosive sublimate in two quarts of water, and then spread them upon

paper in the sun to dry, but this injured the germinating powers, as

very few of them came up, and those looking feeble and sickly :

32 Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

perhaps a much weaker solution and a simple immersion without

permitting them to remain in it any time, would be sufficient to

render the seed unpalatable to the insect without injuring its vege-

tating properties. The ant also injures the young plant, but in a

small degree proportionate to the other two insects.

The appearance of an injured plant will enable any one examin-

ing it to decide whether it has been caused by the fly, the ant, or

the wire-worm. The fly begins by eating a round hole, wide at top,

and gradually diminishing to the bottom, until the leaf is perforated,

when it sometimes continues to enlarge the aperture until its appe-

tite is satisfied. The large holes observed in the leaves were made

in their early state, and have enlarged with the growth of the leaf.

The ant does not eat the leaf, but punctures it with its mandibles,

and then sucking out the juices, produces yellow withered looking

spots on the spring leaf, which destroys it. The wire-worm begins

on the edge of the leaf, and eats it away like a caterpillar, and

often cuts the leaf off at the top of the stalk, and it may sometimes

be found on the ground half-devoured. One wire-worm will con-

sume about as much as five or six flies could do in the same time.

The grub is also a very formidable assailant in the more ad-

vanced state of the plant, near to which it forms a round hole in a

vertical direction (in appearance like that of an earth-worm, but

open at the top) about two or three inches deep in the earth. At

the bottom of this it remains during the day, (unless it be dark and

moist,) and at night emerges from its burrow, and commences an

attack upon the plant by eating round the neck of it, and eventually

detaching the upper part from the root, or a single leaf is eaten

through at the stem, and when fallen on the ground the nearest

edge is dragged to the burrow, where it is drawn in and devoured

during the day. Last year (1836) the turnips sown on the south

side of a hill having entirely failed, it was ploughed in furrows,

and each filled with yard dung, and the earth turned over it by the

plough ; and on the first rainy day a number of young plants of

the Swedish turnip (thinned out from a patch in a moist situation

on the north side) were planted on the ridges eighteen inches

asunder, and very soon grew remarkably strong and healthy ; but

after the few straggling plants, in the part left unploughed, had

been destroyed by the grub, then those at the extreme ends of the

ridges began to disappear, and plant after plant followed from the

same cause, until very few were left. Having noticed one fine

plant at a distance of six or seven yards from any other, and that a

grub had just formed his burrow and begun to attack it, I dissolved

33

Mr. Henry Le Keux on the Turnip Fly.

a quarter of an ounce of common salt in a quart of water, and

poured it over the plant, taking care not to let any run into the

hole, or to disturb the grub. When I examined the plant the fol-

lowing day, no further injury had been done to it, and on digging

up the burrow T found it had been deserted by the grub, which I

have no doubt had travelled to the next plant, although at least six

yards distant, for there l found a burrow and a recent attack upon

the plant which the day before wras uninjured. I now washed this

also, and several others, with the solution of salt, and for ten days

(during which the weather was hot and dry) no one of them re-

ceived further injury until a heavy shower of rain fell, after which

(as I did not wash them again) they shared the fate of all the others.

In such cases it might be worth while to employ children to dig

them out, for they are easily found, as may appear from my having

collected upwards of thirty in less than half an hour ; but the most

keen searcher for and destroyer of these is the rook, and I attri-

bute their increase in this instance to the mistaken vigilance of the

farmer in shooting any one of them which ventured to set foot

upon the land, and hanging him up as a warning to his brethren of

the reward they would meet with for any friendly endeavours to

relieve him from the ravages of so destructive an enemy as the

grub. Then there is the snail and the slug, both great consumers,

besides a host of caterpillars of the different kinds of moths and

butterflies, the best destroyers of which are the various small birds

which the farmer so ungratefully or rather unwittingly attempts to

annihilate ; for I believe it could be pretty clearly shown that, but

for their unceasing assiduity and sagacity in the search of insects,

(and which no human ingenuity could supply,) the whole race would

multiply so rapidly as to devour not only turnips, but every other

crop upon which the agriculturist depends for his subsistence.

I trust that the above observations, by pointing out many things

which have failed to effect the intended object, may at least be so

far advantageous as to show the fruitless expenditure of time by

others who may engage in the same pursuit; and should they offer

any suggestion which may lead to the discovery of a remedy for

the evil, it would afford the greatest satisfaction which I conld re-

ceive.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE IV.

Fig. 1. Part of a turnip-leaf attacked by the Haltica nemorum 1 a, a. Tracks

of the larva which are visible through the parenchyma, at the broad end of the

burrow. 1 b. A burrow from which the larva has escaped to the ground. 1 c,c.

The perfect beetles. 1 d, d, d. Holes drilled in the leaf by the latter.

Fig. 2. The larva magnified.

VOL. If. D

34

Mr. R. Templeton’s Description

Fig. 3. The pupa, natural size. 3 a. The same magnified.

Fig. 4. The perfect beetle seen from above.

Fig. 5. The same, ventral aspect.

Fig. 6. The eggs of the same highly magnified.

Figs. 7, 7 a, and 8, 8 a, represent the Eggs of two Lepidopterous insects also found

on turnips by Mr. Le Keux, by whom they were reared : — the first is that of Leu-

cophasia Sinapis, or Wood White Butterfly ; and the second, that of Phisia

Gamma, or the Y. Moth. Fig. 7 and 8 being of the natural size, and 7 a, and

8 a, magnified.

VI. Description of a new Irish Crustaceous Animal.

Robert Templeton, Esq., R. A.

[Read September 7, 1835.]

(Plate V.)

A short time since, I received from my friend R. Patterson, Esq.,

Vice-President of the Belfast Society of Natural History, speci-

mens of Irish Crustacea, the greater part of which, though not new

to the British fauna, are yet met with but rarely, and the whole,

with one exception, not recorded by my father as natives of our

Irish coast. As however I have not yet had time to give them all

a thorough examination, I shall defer notice of any excepting two

species which present some singular peculiarities, and tend to re-

move in some measure the doubts which have existed as to the

proper position in the scale of animated beings to be assigned to

one of them ; since a similarity, I conceive, may be traced between

the organs of manducation in these, and in genera whose posi-

tion has been correctly ascertained, sufficient to warrant their being

associated : data are also offered us from whence to infer the accu-

racy of a surmise of the celebrated Latreille, whose sagacity and

penetration stand in estimation so deservedly high, that any thing

tending either to confirm or disprove his views, derive from that

circumstance alone increasing interest.

The first of these specimens I imagined at first glance to be a

Nebalia ; it however proves remarkably distinct and requires the

establishment of a new sub-genus. I received eight specimens,

six of which have been sacrificed in the examination of the mouth,

and the two remaining I forward to be placed among their con-

geners in the Society’s collection.

of a new Irish Crustaceous Animal. 35

Crustacea, Briss. Lam.

Entomostraca, Mull.

Branchiopoda, Latr.

Lophyropa, Latr.

Genus Cyclops, Mull.

(Sub-Genus Anomalocera.)

Antenna; 4. superioribus duabus multo longioribus, cujusdam qui

mares existimantur dextra in medio tumida, supra et extra

oculi pedunculum exorientibus ; inferioribus, palpiformibus,

virga minuta ad apicem pilosa e basi procidente, trium articu-

lorum ultimis pilis longis curvatis instructs.

Oculus unicus, in maribus valde peduculatus, in alteris (focminis)

subsessilis.

Corpus elongatum, sensim postice angustatum, segmentis 6 divi-

sum: segmento primo majore, subtriangulare, in medio lateris

dente incurvato et cum rostro deorsum bifurcato et hamato,

super oculum porrigente.

Cauda ultimo segmento, appendicibus duabus lamellatis quasi nata-

toribus instructo.

Pedes natantes pari 4. subaequales, ultimis articulis (me obser-

vante) indivisis, sed intra cum lanceolis uno latere serratis,

extra hamis tribus. Parum ultimorum pedes in sexubus et

inter se dissimiles, maris dexter articulo apicale tumido, pro-

cessu obtuso quasi pollice, et digito mobili instructo, sinister

unguibus tribus rectiusculis.

Anomalocera Patersonii.

Body elongate, contracting posteriorly, composed of several

joints ; the first large, sub-triangular, with obsolete sub-divisions,

and a tooth on each side near the middle ; rostrated anteriorly, the

rostrum curving downwards and dividing into two strong curved

hooks which divaricate, the eye in some, which are presumed to

be males, standing out between them. The joints of the body

successively diminish in extent, the last prolonging itself into late-

ral acuminate processes. The tail is composed of three or four

joints, the last with two spatulate lamellae, to which are articulated

at the apices five long, flat, hairy lances, the outer being externally

serrated and occasionally contracted in its dimensions.

The antennee are four. The superior about -J the length of the

body ; in those, which I shall continue to call males, dissimilar, in

the females alike, being with that on the left side of the males ta-

pering, spiny, and numerously articulated, one articulation at the

D

36

Mr. R. Templeton’s Description

base and those beyond the middle being distinctly marked, the

rest obsoletely, and at this part the spines are very strong and are

inclined slightly inwards. The right superior antenna of the male

is very singularly formed, being swoln out about its middle ; it is

composed of nine joints, the first basal is very minute and seems

more like a little jutting process carrying the antenna, than a part

of that organ ; the second joint is very large, longer than a fourth

part of the antenna, it swells out just beyond its origin and has be-

neath, projecting inwards, a pinnate spine ; towards its apex it

gradually diminishes in diameter, and curves downwards to meet

the next joint, a spine jutting out from the curvature : the next

joint is very small, lobed and with pencils of hairs and a strong

spine anteriorly : the fourth joint very large, obpyriform, irregular,

obsoletely divided into five j oints, particularly well made behind, and

furnished in front about its middle with an articulated process, curved,

toothed, and hooked at its extremity. Several pencils of hairs and

spines project from this joint anteriorly : the fifth joint is about half as

long as the last, is slightly curved, and has about thirty minute teeth

ornamenting the sinus ; the sixth joint is smaller, irregular, and has

the basal half similarly furnished with about twenty still more mi-

nute teeth ; the last three joints are minute, elongate, and sub-

equal. The inferior antennce are very short, palpiform, remote at

their base, three-jointed ; the first joint sending inwards and up-

wards a minute, elongate, clavate appendage, with long spiny hairs

at its apex. The second joint is longest, and the third is some-

what triangular, deeply notched at the apex, and furnished with

strong porrect spines or hairs curved toward their termination.

The eye in the supposed females is sessile, occupying the summit

of a conical eminence; in the male it is placed on a large thick

peduncle which projects beyond the hooks of the rostrum ; the base

of this peduncle is contracted, and is connected to the head by an

articulation which admits of a slight degree of motion.

Immediately beneath and behind the inferior antennae are the

parts of the mouth and maxillary apparatus. The first in order is

an upper lip, which seems thick, curved and furnished with hairs ;

two rounded bodies extend backwards and laterally from this,

whose surface is studded with minute spatulate, serrated, or pin-

nated bodies, resembling thick short bristles, and precisely similar

to those figured in the Magazine of Natural History for January

183J, on the maxillae of a species of spider; between these

rounded bodies is the slit-like opening of the fauces, and from

their base posteriorly arises a palpus or thoracic foot, five-jointed,

the second being elongate, somewhat / shaped, when at rest pro-

37

of a new Irish Crustacecus Animal.

ceeding backwards, and having articulated to the apex superiorly

the third joint, which is similar in form, of nearly equal dimensions,

placed erect, and supporting externally a minute fourth joint : the

fifth is large, tumid in its middle, and with two minute articulated

processes which give origin to pencils of long, curved, hairy spines.

Behind and between these appears a singularly formed body, flat-

tish, placed longitudinally, sub-quadrangular, and with stiff spines

passing forwards and backwards, and from near the posterior in-

ferior angle a large elongate process, partially articulated to it,

which proceeds downwards and forwards, spined at its apex, and

carrying near its base an irregularly lunated body, with strong

waved spines passing backwards from its horns. In the female

specimens I detected behind the above another smaller appendage,

also quadrangular, with long waved hairy spines, directed forwards

and entangling with those of the last described body, and with an

elongate articulated spined process from its inferior angle. I do

not know whether it is to be found in the remaining specimens ;

but, from the exact similarity of the more obvious pieces, I have

every reason to expect its existence in them. The last part, con-

nected in any way with the organs of the mouth, lies exterior to

that described above, and lies immediately beneath the posterior

angle of the large ring of the body ; it is very large, irregular,

curved forwards with traces of articulations, the anterior margin

being divided by clefts into processes, which sustain at their apices

one or two long, coarse, hairy spines, arched upwards near their tips,

and obviously intended to entangle the minute objects which serve

as food to the animal. It may be named a thoracic foot.

'I'lie swimming feet are four pairs : the fourth joint of each is

Hat and dilated backwards so as to be broadly triangular ; the la-

mellate joints, which seem three in number, have two or three

strong short hooks articulated externally, and flat-toothed lances

internally. The last pair of feet are unlike each other and dis-

similar in the sexes, if I be correct in supposing those to be

females which have the undilated antenna. In the male, four arti-

culations of the left foot project beyond the testa; the first small,

somewhat elongate and curved ; the second large, tumid, rounded

posteriorly ; the third longer, somewhat arched, with a blunt tooth

at the apex, posteriorly, and the articulation for the last joint di-

rected forwards. The fourth, or last joint, is minute, conical, and

supports a very small articulated appendage, which is armed with

the three claws. The right foot has in the same space only three

articulations, the two basal sub-equal, swoln posteriorly ; the last

flat, roundish, with a blunt process anteriorly directed downwards

38

Mr. R. Templeton’s Description

and resembling a little thumb, towards which approaches the apex

of the long, cylindric, curved finger which is articulated to the

joint behind. In the female the leg has the first joint very large,

ohsoletely subdivided, and by a longitudinal channel, marked out

into two parts, the inner of which supports a very short bifurcate

member capable of retraction, the outer the three last joints of the

leg ; the basal of which is elongate, nearly straight, and with a

spine or long tooth near its apex. The next joint smaller and

shorter, with a tooth occupying a similar position, and an elongate

tapering articulated process on the opposite side. The last joint

dilates a little towards its apex, giving origin to three moderate-

sized teeth, and one long, flat, and toothed process directed in-

wards.

To the first joint of the tail is attached beneath a biarticulate

spatulate appendage ; it was confined to the left side of the female,

and is probably a collapsed ovary.

Length, 0.12 inch.

Fig. 1. Represents the male magnified, the parts of one side only are represented

except the tumid antenna, the more anterior of the last pair of legs, and a process

beneath the tail which belong to the opposite side.

Fig. 2. The female.

Fig. 3. The same specimen seen from above.

Fig. 4. The appearance of the left antenna of the male, and both of the female.

Fig. 5. The right antenna of the male.

Fig. 6. The inferior antenna, with the minute branch set off from the base.

Fig. 7. This minute branch still more magnified.

Fig. 8. The head seen from beneath. Anteriorly the basis of the antennas with

the rostrum curving down between them and splitting into its two hooks. The

sessile appearance of the eye in the female, next in order. And lastly, the mouth,

with the lip, mandibles, and palpus.

Fig. 9. These parts of the mouth seen in profile.

* Figs. 13 and 18 have been introduced as wood-cuts, there not being sufficient

space for them in the plate.— Sec. E. S.

PLATE V.*

39

of a new Irish Crustaceons Animal.

Fig. 10. One of the hairs greatly magnified.

Fig. 11. The terminal joints of the palpus, as seen sidewise.

F’ig. 12. The same seen from behind.

Fig. 13. The third pair of appendages to the mouth, seen sidewise.

Fig. 14. The first leg, or last appendage to the mouth, seen laterally.

Fig. 15. A body, the exact position of which I could not ascertain, but believe

that in the female it lies between the pair fig. 14., and behind those marked fig.

13. The minuteness of the animal rendered it impossible to ascertain the point

clearly. The moment the separation of the parts No. 14. was effected, I found

this, but could not tell where it came from; it is perhaps basally attached to No.

14.

Fig. 16. One side of the tail and the swimming feet beneath, seen from above.

Fig. 17. The underside of the terminal joint of the right last foot.

Fig. 18. The last pair of legs in the male.

Fig. 19. The last pair cf legs in the female.

Fig. 20. The apical joint still more magnified.

Fig. 21. Form of the fourteen minute teeth on the long process.

Fig. 22. An appendage to the first joint of the tail in a female specimen only ob-

served on the left side — it may have existed on the other — and is most probably

a collapsed ovary.

My friend Mr. Patterson has furnished me with the following

interesting particulars in a letter which accompanied the specimens.

“ The sketch I send you is a very rude representation of a small

Crustacea, five or six specimens of which are sent on a card. The

drawing has no pretensions to accuracy except so far as the anten-

nae are concerned, and in these the anomaly of two distinct forms

made me delineate them with as much accuracy as in my power.

This difference is not perceptible in all the specimens. The ros-

trum in the part which is inked (Note. — This refers to the pedun-

cle of the eye) is a dark blue. The colour of the animal is itself a

bright green, mottled with darker shadings ; the green colour is very

fugacious, and observable only in the recent specimens. The an-

tennae are covered with numerous small hairs. The feet beauti-

fully fringed and formed for swimming. * * * * The first

time on which I took any of these was in crossing the ferry, at the

mouth of Larne Lough, county Antrim, in the evening of the 2nd

of May. They were so numerous, that in the space of about fif-

teen minutes above three hundred were taken. Though kept in a

glass jar of sea-water they all died during night, and were almost

colourless next morning. The ensuing day I passed the ferry, but

only took four specimens. These I lost, as well as some of those

of the previous evening, by having Bcrocs in the same vessel.

The fact of the Berocs feeding on small Crustacea has been re-

corded by Fabricius, and at present appears to rest on his autho-

rity. It was interesting to observe the fact, which I did without

40

Mr. W. Sells on the Silk-Worm.

knowing it was previously known.* The Crustacea were almost

as visible in the transparent body of the Beroe as they had previ-

ously been, and very conspicuous by the bright green of their

colouring. From the 3d of May I was almost daily using my

towing net, yet did not take another specimen of this animal until

the 16 th of the same month; on that day I took sixteen of them,

but was at the time on the point of starting for Belfast, and had

only leisure to make the rude drawing I have given, and attach

the specimens hastily to cards.

“ They swim with a lively and constant motion, and jerk them-

selves out of the way when pursued. I am anxious to know what

they are, as they form a portion of the food of a tentaculated Beroe,

which differs in many respects from the description and drawing of

the Beroe Pileus given by Dr. Grant, and which I am at present

inclined to regard as a distinct species.”

(The descriptions of the other Species alluded to in the intro-

ductory remarks will appear in the next Number.)

VII. Notes respecting the Variety of the Silk-Worm which

spins white Silk. By W. Sells, Esq., M. E. S.

[Read November 7, 1836.]

As I was desirous of giving some attention to the history and eco-

nomy of the new variety of silk-worm, the eggs of which were

stated to have been imported from China, and were distributed

among some members of the Society at their June meeting, I made

some notes from day to day, a copy of which is now submitted to

the notice of the Society.

June 7. — The eggs began to hatch on the evening of their dis-

tribution, and the young worms were all out in the course

of eight or nine days ; as mulberry-leaves were easily pro-

cured in abundance, and they were regularly fed, they

throve remarkably well, and arrived at maturity by the last

week of July.

August 4. — The worms have been spinning their cocoons of

perfectly white silk during the last week ; they are decidedly

larger than those of the common sort, and vary much in

figure, several being nearly spherical, others cylindrical,

* M, Risso mentions liis finding rhronima sedentaria in the interior of a Beroe.

Mr. W. Sells on the Silk-Worm.

41

with the ends rounded, and some of them rather contracted

in the middle ; the loose or floss silk is inconsiderable, the

cocoons are less easily wound off' and do not yield quite so

much of the material, but the silk is beautifully soft and

fine in texture.

August 27. — The moths commenced making their appearance,

and came out in succession during the following ten days.

September 14. — The first pair of moths died, and by the 29th

all of them were extinct, so that the whole average period

of the insect’s existence, from the hatching of the egg to

the death of the imago, was one hundred days.

The business of impregnation in the silk-worm is very slowly

effected, and requires a repetition of intercourse between the sexes

to complete the process of fertilizing the whole mass of ova. Se-

veral pairs of moths were placed separately in trays, and covered

with gauze to prevent escape, the better to observe the results cor-

rectly. One pair, which coupled on Wednesday the 7th of Sep-

tember, were found united on the 16th, having however been

separated during the ten days more than once, for a short period,

when the female laid a number of eggs, — on the 17th they parted

finally ; the male died on the 20th, and the female on the 24th,

after having deposited 796 eggs.

In another case the coitus continued 60 hours, when the female

laid 150 eggs ; she then recoupled, and remained so during two

days.

In a third instance the union lasted above 72 hours, when they

were found apart, but oviposition had not commenced.

The worm is slightly distinguishable front that of the long do-

mesticated variety by a blackish spot on each side of the head ; the

moth is perhaps somewhat larger, and the dark lines on the wings

rather more deeply coloured.

It appears very questionable whether this variety of the insect

could be advantageously cultivated, as the silk is not of quite so

strong a texture, is less in quantity, and not wound with the same

facility as that of the common sort ; at the same time it would be

injudicious to pronounce what might prove to have been a pre-

mature opinion, as further careful investigation may show that the

white silk is better adapted to particular purposes in manufacture

than the orange and the pale yellow sorts are. I would, therefore,

recommend a further and more extended cultivation of the white

variety, in order to ascertain if the present apparent objection may

not in some measure be overcome, and that we do not hastily de-

spair of its available usefulness.

42

Rev. F. W. Hope on the

VIII. On the Golofa Beetle of Venezuela and its allied Spe-

cies. By the Rev. F. W. Hope, M. A. F. R. S., &c.

[Read March 7, 1836.]

Ordo COLEOPTERA, Linnaeus.

Divisio Lamellicornes, Latreille.

Familia Dynastid^e, Mac Leay.

Genus Golofa. Tab. VI.

Labrurn distinction, emarginatum (sub clypeo baud latitans), valde

ciliatum. (Fig. 2.)

Mandibulae validae falcatae, subtus canaliculatae, edentatse, intus basi

lanatse. (Fig. 2.)

Maxillae elongatae, lobo apicali attenuato, intus denticulato, ciliato.

Palpi maxillares 4-articulati ; articulo lmo et 3tio subaequales, 2do

paullo longiori, 4to elongato, attenuato. (Fig. 3.)

Palpi labiales 3-articulati ; articulis duobus primis aequalibus, bre-

vissimis, 3tio longiori, obovato. (Fig. 3.)

Mention breve, transversuvn.

Labrurn lageniforme, hirsutum.

Antennae 10-articulatae, et fere ut in Megasomate, Kirby, formatae.

(Fig. 4.)

Corpus oblongum, maris caput cornu recurvo, valde serrato.

Thorax cornu erecto, antrorsum piloso armatus.

Pedes anteriores maris longissimi, arcuati ; ultimo articulo tarsorum

extus piloso. (Fig. 5. Tip of tibia. Fig. 6. Part of tarsus.)

Obs. — The beetle first described below I am disposed to make

the type of a new genus, to which I have given the name of Golofa,

or Sawyer-Beetle, that being the provincial name under which it is

known to the natives of Venezuela. Golofa Incas, Hope, a new

species from Mexico, appears closely allied to it. Scarabcus Cla-

viger, and hastatus, both described by Fabricius, belong to the

same group ; a third Fabrician species, namely, S. Mgeon, de-

scribed by Olivier as inhabiting the East Indies, in my opinion* is

to be referred to this genus. I am even inclined to doubt the loca-

lity given by Olivier, whose authority can seldom be depended

upon. There are also two new' species which I have added to this

genus, namely, Golofa Pizarro and Guildinii, the former abundant

in Mexico, the latter not unfrequent in the Isle of St. Vincent.

* Subsequently confirmed by information communicated by VV. S. Mac Leay,

Esq. (Sec. E. S.)

«

43

Golofa Beetle of Venezuela.

Species 1. Golofa Porteri. Plate VI.

Long. lin. 29, lat. lin. 14.

Rufo-castaneum, antennis nigris, capitulo rufo-piceo. Capitis

cornu recurvo, valde serrato, longitudine elytrorum fere aequali.

Thorax cornu erecto simplici armatus, antrorsum piloso. Scu-

tellum rufum, nigro-marginatum, punctatum. Elytra castanea,

punctatissima, sutura, marginibus atris. Corpus infra piceum,

hirsutie fulvescenti obsitum. Pedes nigri, anteriores longis-

simi, tibiis subtus canaliculatis, 3-spinosis, ad apicem 1-calca-

ratis, rufo-pilosis ; pedes postici bicalcarati.

Fceinina adhuc latet.

Obs. — This remarkable insect was taken at Venezuela by Sir

Robert Kerr Porter, in whose honour it is named. It was presented

by him to the United Service Museum, and by the kindness of

Captain Henrv Downes was sent to me to be described.

V

Species 2. Golofa Incas Hope.

Long. lin. 18, lat. lin. 10.

Pallide castanea, antennis nigris, capitulo rufo-piceo. Capitis

cornu nigrum, apice recurvum, acutum, retrorsum subcanalicu-

latum, subdenticulatum. Thorax cornu erecto brevi, apice

acuto, hirsutie fulvescenti obsito. Scutellum nigrum, sparse

punctatum. Elytra punctulata, testaceo-castanea, sutura, mar-

ginibus atris. Corpus infra nigro-piceum, hirsutie fulvescenti

obsitum. Pedes anteriores longissimi, rubro-picei, tibiis 3-spi-

nosis, ad apicem unicalcaratis. Pedes postici bicalcarati, nigri,

femoribus rubro-piceis.

Golofa Incas $ .

Long. lin. 17, lat. lin. 9^.

Caput nigrum, in medio armatum. Thorax rubro-castaneus,

varioloso-punctatus. Elytra castanea fortiter punctata, tribus

lineis flavis in singulo apparentibus, pedibus anticis hirsutie

fulvescenti carentibus.

Habitat in agris Mexicanis.

Species 3. Golofa JEgeon, Fab. Oliv. Scar. pi. 26, fig. 219.

Long. lin. 14|, lat. lin. 7.

Scutellatus rufus, thoracis cornu brevi, incurvo, subtus barbato,

capitis cornu subulato.

Fab. St/s. Ent. p. 4, n. 4.

Obs. — This insect I purchased at the sale of the collection of Mr.

44

Rev. F. W. Hope on the Golofa Beetle.

Lee of Hammersmith, and as it was named by Fabricius himself,

there cannot exist a doubt respecting the species. The general ap-

pearance of G. Mgeon resembles Golofa Porteri ; it is, however, the

smallest known species of this group.

Species4. Golofa Claviger, Fab. Vid. Oliv. Scarab, pi. 5, fig. 40 a, b.

Scutellatus rufus, thoracis cornu elevato, capitis subulato, recurvo.

Lin. Sys. Nat. Man. p. 529.

Inhabits Cayenne.

Obs. — It is reported that this species is found in ants’ nests; pro-

bably they merely seek concealment during the day-time in such

localities.*

Species 5. Golofa Hastatus, Fab. Vid. Oliv. Scar. pi. 19, fig. 175.

Scutellatus, thoracis cornu brevi, fornicato, hastato, subtus hirto,

capitis recurvo. Vid. Fab. Sp. Ins. tom. 1, p. 6, no. 11, &c.

Obs. — This insect is not at all uncommon in the continental col-

lections, and generally bears the name of S. hastatus, Fab., and is

thought by some to be a variety of G. Claviger, which I am in-

clined to doubt, as the thoracic horn differs considerably from the

former ; there is also a difference in the general sculpture and

punctation of the elytra.

Species 6. Golofa Pizarro, Hope.

Long. lin. 16, lat. lin. 7\.

liufo-castaneus, capitis cornu simplici, recurvo, thoracis cornu

erecto, incurvo, apice subtrilobo, subtus excavato et piloso.

Corpus infra nigro-piceum, hirsutie fulvescenti obsitum, femo-

ribus piceis, tibiis tarsisque nigricantibus.

Habitat in agris Mexicansis.

In Museo Dom. Hope.

Obs. — This species approaches in the form of its thoracic horn to

G. Claviger ; in other respects, however, it is more closely allied to

G. hastatus, Fab.

Species 7. Golofa Guildinii.

Long. lin. 16|, lat. lin. 8.

Scutellatus atro-rufo-castaneus, capitis cornu simplici ; thoracis-

* From information communicated by Mr. W. S. Mac Leay there appears to be

no foundation for this statement. It is, however, here retained in consequence of

a similar locality being occasionally selected by the larvae of certain Cetonitc.

45

On the Exclusion of the House-fly.

que cornu elevato, apice subtrilobo, subtus excavato, piloso ;

corpore subtus sparsim subpiloso, pedibus nigricantibus.

Habitat in Insula Sancti Vincentii.

In Museo Dom. Hope.

Obs. — This insect was first sent to England by the late Rev.

Lansdown Guilding, whose unwearied researches in every branch

of zoology, I regret to state, have not as yet been sufficiently esti-

mated by his countrymen.

IX. Observations and Experiments for excluding the House

and other Flies from Apartments, by means of Nets. B\ /

the Rev. E. Stanley, now Lord Bishop of Norwich.

Communicated by Colonel Sykes.

[Read April 4, 1836.]

In a paper read on April 7, 1834, at a meeting of the Entomolo-

gical Society, by William Spence, Esq., on the Italian mode of ex-

cluding the house-fly, some doubts seemed to be entertained as to

the correctness of the facts, and the attention of observers was re-

quested to so singular a discovery. In the course of the last sum-

mer I accordingly had some nets prepared of different coloured

worsteds, red, yellow, &c., the size of the meshes varying from £

to one inch on the side of the square. These were stretched over

the two windows of the room in which I constantly sat in the

morning, much exposed to the troublesome intrusion of flies, par-

ticularly that most annoying species, the blue-bottle (Musca vomito-

ria), attracted to the spot by a trellis covered with the sweet-scented

clematis, honey-suckles, and other flowering plants. So great

indeed was the annoyance occasioned by the numbers buzzing

about the room, that on the hottest days I was obliged to forego

the luxury of admitting the air, by even partially raising the

saches. But no sooner had I set my nets, than I was relieved from

my disagreeable visitors. I could perceive and hear them hovering

on the other side of my barriers ; but though they now and then

settled on the meshes, I do not recollect a single instance of one

venturing to cross the boundary. To convince myself that this

disinclination on their part was not accidental, depending on the

state of the air or mere caprice, I repeatedly withdrew one of the

46

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

nets or opened a door communicating with an adjoining room

having a similar aspect, when in the course of a few minutes

three or four would enter, and singularly enough I found some

difficulty in driving them out, as almost invariably they flew with

violence against the upper panes, cautiously avoiding the net-work

below, through which, had the free current of air been their guide,

they might easily have escaped. Encouraged by this first attempt,

1 prepared a net of very fine pack -thread, with enlarged meshes of

1| inch to the square, and to my great satisfaction found that it

answered the purpose as effectually as the smaller worked coloured

worsted nets. So fine and comparatively invisible was the pack-

thread net, that there was no apparent diminution of either light

or the distant view, and for the remainder of the summer and autumn

I was enabled to enjoy the fresh air with open windows without

fear of the annoyance I had heretofore experienced. I should also

add that, though wasps occasionally came through, the number was

very much diminished. I attribute this valuable effect of net-

work to the highly magnifying power of the organ of vision, added

to the small focal length of the lens of the eye ; in consequence

of which, the enlargement of each thread in their rapid flight pre-

sents a succession of obstacles not discernible in the solid obstruc-

tion of the panes of clear glass, against which they strike with the

full force of accelerated motion when endeavouring to avoid the

attempts of those who would catch them.

X. Observations on Succinic Insects. By the Rev. F. W.

Hope, M. A., F. R. S., fyc.

PART THE SECOND.

GUMS AND RESINS.

[Read April 7, 1834.]

In commerce the term gum is indiscriminately applied to resins as

well as to gums, and we not unfrequently meet with the following

improper appellations, Gum Copal, Gum Anime, both of which are

resins. It is true, indeed, that these substances have some pro-

perties in common which are not at first sight readily perceived ;

47

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

they are, however, on analysis, sufficiently distinct, and it is desi-

rable that we should apply the terms properly. The chief gums

imported into England are those of Arabia and Senegal, besides

various others of inferior qualities from different quarters of the

globe. None of them which have come under my notice contain

insects, nor can I learn, by investigation or inquiry, if they have been

observed by others in like substances.* Resins differ from gums

in being insoluble in water; but, with some few exceptions, are

soluble in alcohol, especially if assisted with heat. The only resins

to which I wish to draw your attention, are those named Copal and

Animk, as they are the only resins which are reported to contain

insects.

Copal.

Copal appears to be the Mexican term for gum, and is applied

by the South Americans indiscriminately to all odorous gums as

well as resins. It is said to be imported partly from South Ame-

rica, and partly from India, and the tree which produces it in New

Spain, according to Piso, is the Hymencea Courbaril. It is pro-

bable also that other species of Hymencea 4 produce Copal, as it is

obtained from various parts of South America, and varies greatly

in colour and specific gravity. It is a matter of doubt with me if

Copal is ever found in the East Indies, as I think invariably it has

been confounded with Animk, a substance closely resembling it.

Copal is found in rounded lumps of a moderate size, and is re-

ported, like amber, to contain insects^ imbedded in its substance; as

far, however, as I have had any opportunity of examining it, (some-

times in large quantities,) I have never yet met with insects in-

closed therein. In support of the above opinion, that Copal con-

tains no insects, I add the testimony of Mr. Strong of Long- Acre,

one of the first varnish-makers in London, whose attention has

long been directed to insects contained in resins, and his unique

and superb collection (the result of fifty years' labour) affords no

* My friend Colonel Sykes certainly possesses a small snake entangled in gum

arabic, which he removed from the tree (Mimosa Arabica) himself ; and insects of

course may be entangled in a similar manner; but it is probable they will rarely,

if ever, be found in masses which fall to the earth, since, from the soluble nature of

gum, they would necessarily be dissipated by successive showers.

t Hernandes describes eight species of trees producing Copal.

t Observe, I do not assert that South American Copals never contain insects. I

think it probable they may ; up to the present moment, however, I have not been

able to prove it. Should they eventually be found in it, 1 have little doubt that the

insects will indicate the American type, as those of Anime exemplify the Indian

form.

48

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

specimen of Copal containing insects. If this opinion prove true

or not, the analysis of Copal given by Berzelius probably belongs

to Anime, and the insects described by Dalman, as found in Copal,

belong to Anime also. In corroboration of this opinion I have

only to add, that out of fourteen genera of Copalic insects described

by Dalman, I have found nine in Anime, generally the same species,

and particularly that singular insect, named Paussus cruciatus ; the

remaining five are very minute, and may have escaped my notice.

I conclude, however, that the substance named Anime is the same

as the Copal of Dalman, and in order to prevent further confusion,

I restrict the term Copal, originally a South American word, to

American resin.

Anim'e.

Anime, improperly denominated Gum Anime, is a resinous sub-

stance, which exudes from the Vateria Indica, a gigantic tree of

Malabar. It is sold, according to a communication which I re-

ceived from Dr. Royle, in the bazaars of India, under the name of

Sundroos. In northern India it is said to be the produce of a tree

of Man war, one of the provinces of central India. Abundance of

resin exudes from this tree in its native soil, and, when recently

found, it varies from pale green to a deep amber, with all the inter-

mediate shades. As there are various species of Hymencea which

produce Copal, so probably other genera of Dipterocarpece yield

Animi. The Trachylobium Gcertnerianum of Heyne, a native tree

of Madagascar,* produces it in great abundance. The Anime which

is usually exposed for sale in the lower provinces of Hindostan, is

obtained in the vicinity of the mountains of Travancore, and the

enormous forests of the Malabar coasts are said to yield it in great

profusion. The term Anime, Piso informs us, was first used by

the Portuguese, and it appears to be only another name for the

resin of the Jetaiba tree, which they gave it in consequence of its

close resemblance to the Anime of New Spain. The Jetaiba tree

* I have received some specimens of Anime from Madagascar replete with in-

sects of various orders ; and, as very little is known respecting the Entomological

character of that island, I scarcely dare hazard an opinion concerning it. From the

few forms, however, which have fallen under my inspection, I should say that the

genera of Africa and Asia are greatly intermingled in this island, those of the former

rather predominating. Asiatic types also are not uncommon. Several species of

Elateridce from Madagascar appear closely to resemble those of Travancore. Should

it hereafter appear that the botany of Madagascar and the southern parts of the

Mysore is similar in character, we may naturally expect a proportionate accord-

ance in their Entomology, at least in those groups which derive their food from ve-

getation.

49

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

is a species of Hymencea, as is the Anime tree of New Spain. Here,

I think, I can trace the origin of all the confusion respecting Anime

and Copal. The Portuguese first gave the name of Anime to the

resin of Malabar, probably from observing insects imbedded in its

substance, calling it Anime , or “ animated ,” which is the signifi-

cation of the Lusitanian word. The Portuguese, from their early

acquaintance with the Malabar coast, which commenced in 1498,

soon discovered the Anime, as it is scarcely possible one of its chief

products should not have become early known to people of their

keen commercial habits, more particularly so as they were at that

period a flourishing trading people. This same people did not

settle in South America till 1549, a period of fifty-one years having

elapsed since their first intercourse began with India. The resin

of New Spain, presenting a similar substance to that of the Ma-

labar coast, had the same name applied to it, without any regard

being paid to the tree which produced it ; thinking this account

not improbable, I would infer from it, first, that the name of Anime

was misapplied to Copal, which is only found in America ; and

secondly, that the original term Anime was applied to the pro-

duce of Asia. In process of time Anime and Copal were consi-

dered as synonymous, and as the Spaniards and Portuguese traded

with the East, they afterwards gave the name of Copal to the

Animk of India, which is equally erroneous, Copal being only found

in the New World, while Anime is the produce of the Old. Anime

contains imbedded in its substance lizards, shells, insects and vege-

tables, and sometimes, like amber, it is found with drops of water.

The lizards, on the authority of Mr. Bell, I state to belong to the

genus Hemidactylus ; they appear, however, to differ from any in

his unrivalled collection. The only species of shell which I have

seen belongs to the genus Cyclostoma ; it has an elevated ridge

round the centre, and it appears to be exceedingly rare, if not un-

known. The lizards and shell are in Mr. Strong’s collection. The

number of genera of insects which have come under my notice

amount to 155 ; there are also various others in all orders of very

singular and undescribed forms, affording an ample field for the

future researches of the entomologist, — a field where scarce a track

is yet explored.

The plants which are found in Anime appear to belong to the

following genera, viz. Mimosa, S/torea * and Hemicyclia. There are

also various others which 1 willingly leave to the researches of the

* Mr. Don is of opinion, that some leaves contained in Anime resemble those of

Shorea robusta.

VOL. II.

£

50

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

botanist, as it is properly his department. I cannot quit this part

of my subject, however, without expressing a wish that some one

may direct his attention to the investigation of the plants found in

Anime and amber, as it may eventually lead us to the knowledge

of the antediluvian tree which produced the latter. It may here

perhaps not be amiss to hazard a conjecture how the insects be-

came enveloped in the Anime, and I do so with the hope that my

remarks may lead others to investigate a subject which can only

satisfactorily be done by persons residing in the country where the

resins are produced. The Anime in some cases appears to have

exuded from the tree in considerable quantities and at different

times. It trickled in drops on the ground, and is found in a mass

sometimes of 7 lbs. weight. It is of various sizes and forms, not

unfrequently assuming that of stalagmite : and I possess a stalac-

tite which contains a portion of the branch to which it was sus-

pended. In some specimens laminae ©r layers are observable, ap-

pearing like flaws in minerals ; where this is the case, the liquid

resin probably fell on the previously indurated fluid, as they readily

break in the direction of the flaws. The liquid Anime appears to

have formed on the ground an heterogeneous mass with the mix-

ture of earth, sand, and vegetable matter, sometimes enveloping

pieces of stick, leaves, and blossoms of flowers, &c. ; it remained

some time concreting, and was at length hardened by the influence

of the sun and air. While liquid the wandering lizard, probably

in search of the very insects we find imbedded, became entangled

in the viscous fluid ; the land Helix, crawling over it, was arrested

in its progress ; and the fallen leaf, partly adhering to the mass

belowy became perfectly enveloped from successive drippings from

above. Supposing the Anime to have flowed down the trunk of

the tree, it would naturally embalm in its precious resin every

thing in its progress. If such were the case, we should then ex-

pect to find Lichens, cortical and subcortical insects, embedded in it ;

in other words, the Xylophaga, as well as other Xylobious insects, in

profusion. Such we do find, and find them in numbers far surpassing

our expectations. How, however, are we to account for the pre-

sence of Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, various genera of Hymenoptera,

and numerous Dipteral Whilst the Anime remained liquid, the

locust, cricket, and Cicada may have alighted on the glutinous

bark. The Lepidoptera and some of the Hymenoptera may have

mistaken the Anime for honey, particularly if the resin yielded a

fragrant and aromatic odour, as insects are endued with an extra-

ordinary sense of smell, and are easily attracted by sweets ; — find-

ing Apidce in great abundance, it is probable that an aromatic

51

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

odour attracted them. As to Diptcra, clouds of gnats may have

been driven by the wind against the bark, and various genera of

flies, seeking their usual evening resort, the sunny side of trees,

may have settled on the resin, stuck fast, and perished in the same

common grave. In many instances the Anime appears to have in-

durated almost instantaneously, and from the perfect state in which

we find the insects, we may conclude that they perished almost

without a struggle. In proof of which, we find Gryllus in the at'

titude of springing, Acheta arrested in its flight, the wings still ex-

panded, and Brentus surprised almost in the act of copulation. In

short, the attitude of life is admirably preserved even after death,

and, like the figures in the Sleeping Beauty, they seem to have

been suddenly arrested in their several avocations, and appear

ready to awake from the cataleptic lethargy which entranced them,

though a century had passed away.

In conclusion, I have only to add how vastly superior (in these

instances also) the works of nature are to the operations of art,

greatly as the latter are often extolled, almost at the expense of

the former. Look at the insect in its amber shroud, and then

at the most perfect specimen of Egyptian mummy. In the one,

we see the beauty of the original preserved, and its colouring in-

creased, whilst it is embalmed in a more durable and precious

covering than has ever fallen to the most magnificent of monarchs.

In the other, we see a body “ once pregnant with celestial fire,” re-

taining still the form and lineaments of man, though now a ghastly

spectacle, loathsome to the eye, and offensive to the smell, and

while we gaze on the distorted visage, the emaciated and collapsed

body of the Egyptian, we can scarcely do otherwise than imagine —

“ The pangs he suffered, and the death he died.”*

I hope I have shown from this imperfect sketch of Succinic In-

sects, that the Science of Entomology involves collateral consider-

ations of a very high interest ; and, although it will probably

never attain to the brilliant renown which its sister sciences have

reached, still it may be rendered eminently useful and instructive,

which should ever be the chief end of all scientific pursuits.

* Vide Boone's Farnese Hercules.

E i

52

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

Description of various New Species of Insects found in Gum Anime.

(Plate VII.)

Ordo COLEOPtERA.

Familia Staphylinid^e.

Sub-Familia Oxytelides.

Osorius brunnicornis, Hope. Fig. 1.

Long. lin. 4f.

Niger, nitidus, tibiis anterioribus dilatatis, antennis pedibusque

brunneis.

Corpus cylindricum, nitidum, nigrum.

Caput elongatum, mandibulis intus dentatis.

Antennae brunneae, pubescentes, capite longiores ; lmo articulo basi

contracto, apiee dilatato ; 2ndo minori ; 3tio prsecedenti lon-

giori ; septem sequentibus aequalibus ; extimo ovato, antice sub-

conico. Fig. 1 a, 1 b, terminal joints of max. palpus.

Thorax fere quadratus, capite brevior, laevis.

Scutellum 3-angulare, magnum.

Elytra thorace longiora, parum latiora, nigra, nitida, marginibus

posticis brunneis.

Pedes rufo-brunnei ; tibiis anterioribus dilatatis, compressis, spi-

nulosis.

E Resino Animb descriptus.

In Musaeo Dom. Strong.

Familia Pselaphid^e.

Temnodera.*

Antennae 11-articulatae, articulo lmo crasso, 2do paullo minori ; 6

sequentibus fere aequalibus, subtrigonis ; binis proximis sensim

magnitudine increscentibus, lunulatis ; ultimo elongato-ovato,

apice conico.

Palpi 3-articulati ? articulis duobus primis aequalibus, tertio praece-

dentibus vix duplo longiori, elongato-ovato, apice attenuato.

Fig. 2 a.

Caput protensum, antice attenuation, postice dilatatum, nodosum.

Thorax rotundatus, postice semicirculariter, forte impressus.

Elytra ovata, postice abrupte truncata.

Abdomen subovatum, gibbosum, longitudine elytris baud aequale.

Pedes longissimi, femoribus rectis subincrassatis, tibiis tarsisque

gracilibus.

Temnodera testacca. Fig. 2.

Long. lin. 1.

Totum corpus supra et infra rubro-testaceum, thorace globoso,

* From Tifxya), scindo, and frggtt, collum.

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects. 53

superne inciso ; elytris ovatis, abrupte truncatis, pedbus lon-

gissimis.

Obs. — It is difficult to describe the above insect accurately, from

the refraction of the resin. It differs in many respects from any

known genera ; and from the singular thorax, which appears as if

it had been submitted to the knife of the anatomist, I have given it

the name of Temnodcra. The thorax resembles closely the ball

and socket.

Familia Elaterida:.

Mecynocantkus unicolor. Fig. 3.

Long. lin. G,

Ruber, thoracis angulis anticis et posticis in spinas productis.

Antennce retractiles.

Thorax punctatus, scutellum latum, postice rotundatum. Fig. 3 b.

Elytra punctato-striata, apicibus valde acutis.

Tarsi articulo quarto subdilatato. Fig. 3 a.

Habitat in India Orientali.

Specimen unicum in Resino Anime inclusion.

Obs. — This remarkable insect is in Mr. Strong’s superb collec-

tion. As it differs from all the Elateridce in the singular form of

the thorax, I have given it the name of Mecynocanthus, from p.r\Kvvw,

and cutavda, from its thoracic angles being produced into spines.

Ctenicerus eximius. Fig. 4.

Long. lin. 6.

Sanguineus, thorace linea media dorsali nigra, elytris bimaculatis

apicibusque concoloribus.

Caput rubrum, antennis pectinatis, atris. Thorax sanguineus, linea

media longitudinali nigra, ante oculos terminata. Regio scu-

telli nigra. Elytra punctato-striata, sanguinea, medio macula

nigra, fere ovata, subobliqua notata, apicibusque concoloribus.

Pedes nigri. Fig. 4 a, tarsus.

Foemina adhuc latet ; forsitan ad genus Ctenicerum amandandus.

Obs. — This insect approaches in its form E. melanocephalus, Fab.

which is found on the Coromandel coast. I have no doubt that

eventually it will be discovered in a recent state. A species, closely

allied to it, found in Madagascar, is described by Dr. Klug.

Elater Wallesii. Fig. 5.

Long. lin.

Niger, thorace punctato, elytris 6-maculatis, pedibusque rubris.

Antennae nigrae, thorace antice lato, punctatissimo, angulis pos-

54

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

ticis flavis. Elytra punctato-striata, nigra, macula flava in

singulis ad basin posita, binisque fasciis interruptis concolor-

ibus, haud ad suturam extensis ; pedibusque rubris.

Obs. — This elegant species of Elater I have named in honour of

Mr. Wallis, to whose liberality I am indebted for several Coleoptera

found in Resin Animb. Fig. 5 a, represents the terminal joints of

its antennae.

Familia Clerid;e.

Tillus d-maailatus. Fig. 6.

Long. lin. 3|.

Niger, elytris albo-maculatis, pedibusque flavis.

Antennce brunneae, (fig. 6 a ,) capite thorace punctatis pubescentibus.

Scutellum niveum.

Elytra basi parum latiora, apice rotundata, striato-punctata, octo-

maculatata, quatuor maculis albis in singulo rotundatis, scu-

telloque concolori.

Pedes testacei. Tarsorum anteriores articuli fere aequales, subtri-

goni, articulo ultimo subbilobo. Fig. 6 b.

E Resino Anime descriptus.

In Coll. D. Strong.

Stigmatium 2-fasciatum. Fig. 7.

Long. lin. 3|.

Rubro-flavus, antennis pubescentibus, elytrisque bifasciatis.

Antennae rufo-testaceae, pubescentes. Thorax fere orbicularis,

medio incrassatus, elevatus, sparsim flavo-pilosus. Elytra tho-

race triplo longiora, apice rotundata, striato-punctata, fascia alba

fere media, secunda concolori ante apicem locata. Pedes

rubro-testacei. Tarsorum articulo primo, tertio fere aequali,

secundo longissimo, quarto subbilobo. Fig. 7 c.

In Coll. D. Strong.

E Resino Anime descriptum.

Fig. 7 a, apex of the maxillary palpus ; 7 b, labial palpus.

Familia Brenthid^:.

Brent hus nasalis, Hope. Fig. 8.

Long. lin. 5.

Rufo-cinnamomeus, antennis extrorsum crassioribus, elytris stri-

ato- punctatis.

Antennce rufae, ultimis articulis sensim increscentibus.

Caput laeve, mandibulis cultriformibus instructum.

Thorax cylindricus, glaber.

Elytra thorace longiora, striato-punctata.

Pedes rufo-picei, femoribus incrassatis.

55

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

E Resino Anime descriptus.

In Mus. Dom. Strong.

Obs. — This elegant species of Brenthus is one of the most sin-

gular insects hitherto discovered in Anime. It does not accord with

the description of any species mentioned by Schonherr. It ap-

proaches very closely some species which I have received from

the Mysore.

Familia Endomyciiid.e.

Eumorphus castaneus, Hope. Fig. 9.

Long. lin. 3|.

Castaneus, thorace quadrato, elytris eoncoloribus, macula irregu-

lari fiava notatis, pedihus nigricantibus.

Elongato-ovatus, laevissimus, castaneus.

Antennce nigrae, capite thoraceque longiores, tribus ultimis articulis

rufescentibus. Fig. 9 a, 9 b, mouth.

Thorax fere quadratus, antice valde sinuatus, marginibus pallidis.

Elytra castanea, basi thorace latiora, et fere triplo longiora, macula

irregulari flava notata.

Pedes nigricantes, tarsis rufescentibus. Fig. 9 c.

E Resino Anime descripta.

In Museo Dom. Strong.

Ordo HYMENOPTERA.

Familia Proctotrupid.e.

Calotelea, Westw. ( Teleadi affine.)

Caput rotundatum, ocellis distinctis instructum.

Antennce 12-articulatae, articulis G et 7 minutis, transversis, reliquis

5 clavam elongatam formantibus. Fig. 10 a.

Thorax ovatus.

Alee longae, ramulo stigmaticali brevi, fere inconspicuo.

Abdomen plus minusve elongatum, articulis subaequalibus, antice et

postice attenuatum, basi in uno sexu in cornu erecto, supra

metathoracem protenso, interdum producto.

Pedes longi, femoribus paullo incrassatis, tarsis 5-articulatis simpli-

cibus.

Obs. — In Mr. Strong’s Collection of Resin Insects several of this

species are preserved, together with other specimens agreeing with

them in the colours of the body and wings, and the structure of the

antennae, but having the head larger, and the abdomen shorter and

unarmed at the base. From analogy with the allied genera, the

latter must be the females of another species, and not the opposite

sex of the one here figured, (which is a female,) as might be in-

ferred from the colouring and markings of the wings.

56

Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects.

Calotelea aurantia, Hope. Fig. 10.

Luteo-fulvescens, oculis, ocellis, antennarum clava, maculis 4 ab-

dominalibus lateralibus, apiceque abdominis nigricantibus.

Alse anticae fascia tenui mediana, secunda latiori, pone me-

dium, et apice fuscis.

Long. corp. lin. 1.

In Mus. Dom. Strong.

Calyoza, Westw. ( Bethyllo affine.)

Corpus elongatum, depression. Caputmagnum, planum (fig. 11 b).

Ocelli postici. Antennae prope os insertae, $ 1 2-articulatae,

(inde inter Hymenoptera aculeata fossoria, hoc genus non lo-

candum,) ramo longogracili exarticulis singulis 3 — 1 1 producto

(fig. 1 1 a). Collare magnum, subquadratum. Alae sat breves (in

specimine viso contortae), stigmate magno, areola unica mar-

ginali ad apicem nervo tenuiori terminata ; areolis 2 basali-

bus elongatis, subcostalibus, quarum superior nervo obliquo,

et inferior transverso inclusae sunt (fig. 11 c). Femora sub-

incrassata, genitalia mascula in specimine exserta.

Calyoza staphylinoides , Hope. Fig. 11.

Nigra; antennis, segmentis duobus apicalibus abdominis genita-

libusque laete rubris, alis pallidis, nervis fuscis, stigmateque

nigro, pedibus nigris, geniculis tarsisque piceis.

Long. corp. lin. 2§.

In Mus. D. Strong.

Ordo HEMIPTERA*

Familia Reduviida:.

Enicocephalus nasalis, Hope.

Vide Art. IV. p. 22, for the description of this species.

Ordo HOMOPTERA.

Familia Cercopida:.

Cercopis Strongii. Fig. 12.

Long. lin. 5.

Subaurantius, capite et scutello nigris, elytris ad latera, postice

nigro, et aurantio colore variegatis.

Caput nigrum.

Thorax antice rotundatus, postice emarginatus.

Scutellum atrum.

* Read 5tli May, 1834.

57

Description of Cucullia SoUdaginis.

Elytra antice aurantia, postice nigra, binisque maculis ovalibus fla-

vis ornata.

Pedes atri, tibiis externis apiceque spinosis.

In Coll. Dom. Strong.

Habitat in India Orientali.

Obs. — This beautiful Cercopis approaches in form some species

from Bengal and China. It is named in honour of — Strong, Esq.

F.Z.S, H.S., whose cabinet contains an invaluable collection of re-

sinous insects, the result of forty years’ assiduity, and certainly

unrivalled.

XI. Description of Cucullia Solidaginis, together with its

Larva. By James Francis Stephens, .Esq., P. E.S.,

F. L.S., he.

Cue. SoUdaginis. Plate III. fig. 7.

Alis anticis fusco-cinereis , alhido-variis ; stigmatibus ordinariis dis -

tinctis, margine interior e vittaque ad anguluw. ani nigris.

Exj lansio alarum 1 unc. 9 — 10 lin.

Cue. SoUdaginis. — Stephens' s Illust. Brit. Ent. ( Haustellat.) v. iv.

p. 890.— No description.

Head and thorax greyish-ash or brownish : the forehead paler,

with darker edges : the thorax with an angulated transverse

streak, and a large triangular dorsal blotch, deep fuscous :

anterior wings pale ashy-brown, prettily varied with whitish-

ash : the costa at its apex marked with alternate deep brown

and whitish streaks, placed obliquely : stigmata very distinct,

with a double blackish margin ; between the anterior one and

the shoulder is a pale space, terminated close to the stigma

by a double waved streak, deepest in colour towards the costa

and vanishing towards the inner margin ; near the anal angle

on the inner margin is a short slightly flexuous hoary streak

edged with fuscous, and on the anal angle is a brown patch

bearing a short black dash ; the hinder margin bears a waved

whitish streak, and a faint interrupted black line ; on the inner

margin is a slender black line : cilia pale fuscous, with the

base darker : posterior wings fuscous, with the base palest, and

on the disc a very faint dusky lunule ; nervures fuscescent ;

58 Mr. F. Holme’s Notice of Coleopterous Insects

cilia pale ochreous, with darker shades, and a dusky line at

the base.

Caterpillar (Plate III. fig. 6) long and slender, naked, pale apple-

green, with a row of reddish lunules on each side, above the

stigmata, and a chain of diamond-shaped reddish blotches

down the back : it feeds upon the Solidago virgaurea , or golden

rod.

This interesting addition to our Fauna was detected in Birch

Wood many years since, by the late Mr. J. Standish, sen., and who

secured a single example by mothing ; but the caterpillar and its

food remained unknown until discovered by his son Mr. B. Standish,

who found two specimens of the larva in the south-west angle of

Birch Wood in September, 1832, which produced the imago in the

following June.

XII. Notice of the Coleopterous Insects observed in the

Scil/y Islands in July and Auyust, 1836. By Frederick

Holme, Esq., M. A., M. E. S.

[Read December 5, 1836.]

I collected the following species of Coleoptera on the Scilly Islands

between July 22 and August 2, 1836 : and though I am afraid the

list will be found remarkable for little but its deficiencies, I think

it as well to lay it before the Society, in the hope of its being sub-

sequently extended, as, I believe, the Islands have been hitherto

almost unvisited by entomologists. I must remark that the time

and circumstances were not very favourable for collecting, the

plant insects being nearly over for the summer, and the small close

heath (I believe Erica Vagans'), which forms nearly the sole clothing

of the hills, lying so close to the ground as not to admit the intro-

duction of a sweeping-net. The tides too were very high when I

arrived, and prevented my having more than two mornings’ col-

lecting on the sandy beach at St. Mary’s, before it was covered :

but for this, I have no doubt that the number of species of Aleo-

clmra, Anthicus, &c. would have been much extended. The spe-

cies marked with an asterisk I never found in the Land’s End dis-

trict of Cornwall.

Cicindela campestris. — In great plenty on Normandy Downs and

Salleykey Downs, St. Mary’s Island : also on some of the

59

observed in the Scilhj Islands.

other islands, but not in the same profusion : I saw one of

them fly with a living worm as long as itself in its jaws.

Dromius foveolus. — In the sands: but not nearly so common as

near Penzance.

Loricera pilicornis, Anchomenus albijms, and sordidus. — All in great

plenty : Anchomenus prasinus I did not detect, but I found

an elytron which seemed to belong to A. oblongus.

Agonum marginatum. — Found by dozens under every stone round

the great Abbey Pond at Tresco (a large piece of water about

three feet deep, the only fresh-water pond on the whole

group) : not found in any other part of the Islands : the spe-

cimens varied greatly in tints, from bright copper to light

green.

parumpunctatum. — Not uncommon : the thorax in all the

specimens was a much more brilliant green than usual.

Olisthopus rotundatus. — Very common : the wings were the merest

rudiments possible in every specimen I took on the Islands :

from the small size of the specimens, I suspected they might

prove Odontonyx rotundicollis, but I could detect no denticu-

lations on the claws.

Calathus melanocephalus. — Very common in the sand: some were

scarce two lines long.

cistcloides. — Also very common, and varying greatly in

size and comparative width : some of my specimens, from their

great size and width, I suspect may prove C. latus of Stephens’s

Illustrations.

fuscus and mollis. — Both common on the beach.

Omaseus anthracinus and nigrita. — I took several specimens agree-

ing with a pair taken at Penzance some years since, which

Mr. Stephens named for me. 0. nigrita is very common.

Broscus cephalotes. — Very abundant in holes in the sand.

Amara plebeia, erythropa, communis , convexior, and atra. — The spe-

cies of this genus are so difficult to distinguish by descriptions,

that I do not feel sure of having named these correctly ; they

are all common on the Islands.

Bradytus apricarius. — Not uncommon under or-weed on the beach.

Harpalus latus. — Found among the sand not uncommonly.

* attenuatus ? — A very pretty insect, not uncommon on

the Islands, and particularly abundant on a small uninhabited

isle called Teon: generally in company with Anisodactylus

spurcaticornis. I am not certain that I have been right in

identifying it with H. attenuatus, Stepli.

60 Mr. F. Holme’s Notice of Coleopterous Insects

Harpalus ceneus and rufcornis. — Abundant, as well as the varieties

or allied species, ceneopiceus, confnis, & c.

*Anisodactylus spurcaticornis. — Common : none agreeing with A.

binotatus.

Peryphus tetraspilotus, Notiophilus biguttatus. — Neither common :

the Notiophili were a variety of a long narrow figure : I sent

a pair to Mr. Waterhouse for examination.

Hygrotus incequalis and affinis ? Laccophilus interruptus. — These

were the only species I could find round the margin of the

Abbey Pond, above-mentioned, but I had not time to examine

minutely.

*Cercyon littorale, *binotatum, *dilatatum, and * depression , Sphae-

ridium scarabceoides, bipustulatum, and *lunatum ? — Found in

plenty on the beach on fish bones and other animal rejecta-

menta. The three first are unquestionably only different

states of colour and maturity in the same species, as Mr. Ste-

phens suspects. I have a complete connecting series through

every shade of colour : they vary greatly in size. C. depression

may perhaps be only another variety, though the differences

are greater than in the others.

Phosphuga atrata. — I took a single specimen, on the wing : I men-

tion this from several eminent entomologists, among whom were

Mr. Stephens and Mr. Hope, having told me that they were

not aware that the insect possessed the power of using its rudi-

ments of wings for flight : I have several times taken it on the

wing in the sunshine.

Simplocaria semistriota. — At the roots of sand plants on the beach.

*Hister maritimus and *quadristriatus. — I found two or three spe-

cimens of each of these under stones in the loose soft sand in

the Island of Sampson, but I had no time to search for more :

I thought it singular that I did not find H. ceneus in the Islands,

as it swarms in the Land’s End district.

Onthopliagus nuchicornis, Dilwynii. — Not in great numbers: Dil-

wynii most numerous.

Typhaeus vulgaris.- — In great abundance on the Garrison Hill in St.

Mary’s, and on other parts of the island, but not in such num-

bers.

Geotrupes mutator. — One specimen, I think on Bryer Island.

vernalis, sylvaticus, niger f, puncticolUs , and stercorarius.

— All common, but the three first, or smooth species, by far

the most numerous : G. stercorarius the least plentiful of any.

* sublcevigatus. — I took one specimen, which appeared to

agree with Mr. Stephens’s description of this species : I pos-

observed in the Scil/y Islands. 61

sess another specimen which I took on Portland Island in Au-

gust, 1835.

Aphodius fossor, erraticus, Jimetarius, fcelens, scybalarius, rufescens,

and rufipes. — All in great abundance.

*iEgialia globosa. — A few specimens on the sand in Sampson, not

noticed elsewhere. I took at the same time and place two

specimens of a small insect which I imagined to be a species

of Psammodius, but they were both devoured by some Cofti

which were in the same bottle.

Serica brunnea.-. — The season for this insect was over when I was

in the Islands, but it appeared to be very common, as I found

the remains under almost every stone.

Melolontha vulgaris, Amphimalla solstitialis, Phyllopertha horticola.

— The two latter I found in abundance on the Islands, and

was informed that the first was equally plentiful in the season.

Cetonia aurata. — In great numbers in the governor’s garden in the

Star Castle, St. Mary’s : but very few in other parts of the

Islands. Most of the specimens were of a greener tint than

usual, having very little coppery gloss : but one which I took

with the others was of an uniform deep glossy black, with the

usual white markings, and not differing in any respect, except

colour, from the common variety. I had taken another exactly

similar, nearly on the same spot of ground, during a visit of a

fewr hours to the Islands in the summer of 1833. It is curious

that though this species is found in tolerable plenty on the

heath about the Land’s End, it is never taken near Penzance,

or indeed at any distance from the headland.

Ptilinus pectinicornis. — Common in the houses.

Leiophlaeus nubilus, Otiorhynchus sulcatus, rugifrons, ovatns , pabu-

lums and piceus, Strophosomus cognatus. — All of occasional

occurrence in the Islands.

*Apion licematodes. — Abundant on heath on the Dolphin Downs,

Tresco.

Thyamis tab'ida. — Common on prickly plants on the sea sand.

*Macrocnema marcida. — This rare species, which is marked as a

deficit in Mr. Stephens’s catalogue, I found in plenty on the

euphorbias (I believe) between Blue Carn and Peninnis Head,

St. Mary’s : but I did not secure many specimens, mistaking

them at the time, from the colour, for the immature state of

some other species.

htjoscyami and napi, Phaedon polygoni, Cryptocephalus

ochraceus, Coccinella 11 -punctata. — Passim.

Phylan gibbus, Crypticus quisquilius. — Both common in the sands :

62 Mr. F. Holme’s Notice of Coleopterous Insects

Opatrum sabulosum, which usually occurs in company with

Phijlan gibbns, I did not detect : neither could I find Allecula

sulphured, though it abounds on the same heath near the

Land’s End.

*Phaleria cadaverina. — A single specimen under or-weed on the

beach.

Helops striatus. — Found under every stone throughout the Islands.

Lagria hirta. — Not uncommon.

*Anthicus humilis. — Not uncommon among the gravelly sand, and

even under the or-weed, on the beach at St. Mary’s ; but dif-

ficult to catch, from its diminutive size and extreme agility.

I found it last year on the sands near Ryde.

Polystoma obscurella. — The Aleochara micans of Stephens’s Illustr.

very common under or-weed, &c. I took one specimen of

Al. Kirbii, which Stephens has placed as a variety of this spe-

cies in the second edition of the Nomenclature : it appears to

differ merely in being twice the size of the common variety,

and I have several intermediate specimens.

*Bolitochara xantliopa, and *termincdis. — One specimen of each,

under or-weed on the beach : the antennae in B. xantliopa are

remarkably long.

assimilis. — Common in the same locality: the specimens

smaller than those about Penzance.

Aleochara fuscipes. — Common: I found one specimen in the dry

broken carcase of Typhccus vulgaris, on the Garrison Hill in

St. Mary’s.

cursor? — ' This species, which is very common in Scilly

and on the shores of Mounts’ Bay, in dung, under stones, &c.

I do not remember ever to have seen elsewhere : it agrees

better with the species described by Stephens as A. cursor,

Kirby, than with any other: but as I do not feel satisfied of

their identity, I subjoin a description of my insect.

Length 1 — lin. Shining brassy black, with very slight pu-

bescence : thorax rather widely punctured, with a polished

dorsal line, bounded on each side at the base by larger punc-

tures running into each other : elytra widely punctured, with

a short hair in each puncture, and a large triangular fulvous

spot, not quite touching the suture, at the inner angles of the

apex : abdomen rather broad, linear : antennee and limbs dull

black ; hinder knees sub-rufous.

nitida, * Pella Junes ta. — Found with the last, but much

less common.

Tachyporous hypnorum and *putridus . — Passim.

63

observed in the Stilly Islands.

Creophilus maxillosus. — This species, which occurs by dozens under

every heap of or- weed on the shores of Mounts’ Bay, does not

appear to be equally common in the Islands : the only locality

in which I took it was the beach of the small uninhabited

Island of Teon, mentioned above.

*Staphylinus ceneocephalus. — Very common under stones and in

dung throughout the Islands, and more particularly abundant

in Bryer. It is worthy of remark that I did not take a single

specimen of either St. cericeps, or St. cJialcocephahts, though

both abound on the beach in Mounts’ Bay, where, on the

other hand, I did not find St. ceneocephalus. These three spe-

cies appear to me to be very much confounded together in

naming collections.

Goerius olens, punctulatus , and *morio? — All in tolerable plenty,

particularly the two first : — the one I have named mono ? bears

a great resemblance to punctidatus , but is much slenderer.

Several specimens which I took on Malledgvan, a bare rock

to the west of the Islands, had when alive a strong bluish gloss

on the elytra, which disappeared after death : they may pos-

sibly be referable to G. cyaneus, but having no specimens for

comparison, I cannot determine the point.

Ocypus similis, Quedius tristis, Philonthus splendens, ceratus, po-

litus, maculicornis, sanguinolentus, and bimaculatus. — Passim.

*Philonthus corruscus. — This beautiful species was not uncommon

under stones about the Abbey Pond in Tresco, in company

with Agonum marginatum and Harpalus attenuatus. I have

Mr. Stephens’s authority for saying that my insect is his Ph.

corruscus, but in all my specimens the dorsal punctures on the

thorax are only four in each row, instead of five : and the scu-

tellum, suture, and base of the elytra narrowly, are shining

brassy black, which is not noticed in his description : the ab-

domen has a slight golden pubescence. The insect standing

in Mr. Curtis’s cabinet by this name appeared to me to be

specifically distinct, but I had not an opportunity of compa-

rison.

*Raphirus rufipennis. — I am not certain whether the specific name

be correct, as Mr. Stephens’s descriptions in this genus are

not so clear as usual.

Cafius lateralis, littoralis, and tessellatus. — The two last are evi-

dently only immature specimens of the first, as Mr. Stephens

suspects. They are found in great plenty under or-weed, and

are exceedingly voracious, preying on each other when con-

fined together in a bottle.

64 Mr. F. Holme’s Notice of Coleopterous Insects.

*Remus sericcus mihi. — One specimen on the beach at St. Mary’s.

( Vide infra.)

♦Lathrobium punctatostriatum. — Under stones near the day-mark,

St. Martin’s

Lesteva planipennis. — Passim.

The insect I have above conditionally named Remus sericeus, is

one which I have in vain sought for in collections, and which I

cannot satisfactorily reduce to any genus described in Mr. Ste-

phens’s Illustrations. I was told, I forget by whom, that Mr. Rudd

had taken an insect resembling it, in Yorkshire. Mr. Stephens, on

a cursory view of the specimen one morning at Somerset House,

thought it allied to Otliius subiliformis, but it is at once distin-

guished from Otliius by its closely punctate-thorax, which separates

it from all the genera of Stephens’s family Staphylinidce, except

Achenium, Lathrobium, and Cryptobium, from the first and last of

which its non-geniculated antennae separate it, as its depressed

body, untoothed tibiae, and conic-acuminate terminal joint of palpi,

do from Lathrobium. Under these circumstances, I venture, with

great diffidence, to propose it as a new genus, to be characterised

as follows : —

Remus.

Antennce not geniculate ; the basal joint longest and stoutest ; the

two next nearly equal, obconic ; the seven next nearly trans-

verse, equal ; the terminal longer, acute. Palpi with the basal

joints nearly equal, obconic ; the terminal rather longer, fili-

form, acuminate at the point. Head oblong, ovate. Eyes la-

teral, small. Thorax rectangular, elongate, thickly punctate.

Body depressed. Abdomen deeply margined. Limbs moderate,

without teeth. Anterior tarsi moderately dilated.

Remus sericeus.

Length 2£- lines : dull black, with an aureous pubescence on the

elytra and abdomen ; mouth rufous ; antennae and limbs deep

rufous or piceo-rufous, pubescent ; head and thorax distinctly

and rather deeply punctured, with a smooth spot on the vertex,

and another just above the labrum ; thorax with a smooth

somewhat raised dorsal callus throughout ; thorax and head

joined by a distinct neck as in Gyrohypnus ; elytra flat, qua-

drate, very minutely and closely punctured ; abdomen linear,

deeply margined, punctured like the elytra.

On the Domestic Habits of a Species of Ant.

G5

XIII. On the Domestic Habits of a Minute Species of Ant.

By J. Bostock, Esq., M. D., F. R. S., Sfc.

[Read November 7, 1836.]

The members of the Entomological Society are, I believe, in pos-

session of certain facts respecting the recent appearance, in various

parts of the metropolis, of what has been termed the House Ant ;

and I propose, with their permission, to lay before them a few ad-

ditional facts on this subject, which have either fallen under my

own inspection, or which have been derived from what I consider

unexceptionable testimony.

I was informed about two years ago, by Mr. Spence, of the ap-

pearance of these animals at Brighton, who stated that they were

in such numbers, as to have excited very general attention, and I

had received some vague accounts of their having been seen in

London, when, in the course of the last spring, I learned that they

had made their appearance in my own house. They were found in

a cupboard, at the end of the kitchen opposite to the fire-place,

where stores were occasionally kept, and also on a range of shelves

contiguous to the cupboard. I may observe, that the wall to

which these shelves were attached, was sensibly heated by the fire

in the contiguous house, and that the animals were the most nume-

rous in that part where the warmth was the most considerable. In

the month of June I had the cupboard and shelves removed, and

also a dresser connected with them, when in all the parts where

any of the wood-work had been let into the walls, or even where

it had been in contact with the plaister, the animals were found in

prodigious quantities. They were obviously of two very different

sizes, one considerably larger than the other, the larger kind con-

stituting perhaps one-sixth part of the whole ; there were also a

very great number of the larvae.

The wood-work having been carefully scraped and cleansed, and

the cavities of the wall filled up with plaister, the cupboard, &c.

were replaced ; when shortly after, I was informed, that the ani-

mals were observed, in very great quantities, in the floor of the

kitchen near the fire-place. The flags which were contiguous to

the fire being raised up, the sand below them was absolutely

swarming with the animals, and upon examining the boards of the

floor, they, as well as the timbers on which they rested, were found

to be thickly covered with the animals and their larvae. Some of

the beams appeared to be in a decaying state, and even to exhibit

vox.. II.

F

66

Dr. Bostock on the Domestic Habits

symptoms of the dry rot, on which account I had the whole of the

floor removed, the sand below, to the depth of about a foot, was

taken away, and in its place a new floor was laid down, resting

upon tiles, which were imbedded in cement.

The grate and the fire-range were then examined, and here the

animals appeared to be in still greater quantity than in the former

cases ; every hole and crevice was absolutely swarming with them.

I had all the bricks and mortar carefully removed, every part of

the iron-work cleaned, and the whole of the range set up with fresh

bricks and tiles, and even the inside of the chimney, to the height

of six or seven feet, lined with fire-tiles, imbedded in cement. The

effect of all these operations has been to reduce the number of the

animals very considerably, but still there are many of them creep-

ing about the fire-place, and especially in the breast of the chimney.

The other parts of the kitchen are altogether, or, at least, very

nearly free from them, a single straggler alone having been occasion-

ally seen on the end of the dresser, or on the skirting-board near

the stove.

This occurrence in my own house has naturally led me to make

many inquiries about the existence of these animals in other places,

and the result has been to prove, that, within the last year or two,

they have appeared in a great many parts of the metropolis, con-

siderably distant from each other. I have, however, found great

difficulty in obtaining accurate information on this subject. This

arises from two causes ; first, from the information being neces-

sarily obtained principally from the servants of the families, the

animals almost invariably making their appearance, in the first in-

stance, in the kitchens of the respective houses ; and, more parti-

cularly, from the unwillingness which many persons manifest to

have it known that their houses are infested with the ants. I think,

however, that I have obtained sufficient proof that they extend

over a district commencing at Gray’s Inn Lane in the east, extend-

ing at least as far as the line of Regent Street in the west, and in

the other direction, from the commencement of Somer’s Town to

the Strand. I also know that they are in a house at Hampstead,

and I have heard that they have made their appearance in South-

wark. I have ascertained that they have invaded several shops,

principally bakers’ and grocers’, and that, in some cases, they have

been found so serious a nuisance, as to cause the occupier to leave

the premises.

I have made many inquiries respecting the mode in which they

have been supposed to have entered the houses, but I regret to

say, that I have obtained but little precise information. In some

67

of a Minute Species of Ant.

cases it appears probable, that they have proceeded from one house

to another through crevices in the party-walls, and in others, that

they have been conveyed by articles that have been sent into the

houses from the shops. In one case it wTas clearly ascertained,

that they w'ere introduced from the grocer’s in a parcel of raisins.

No method, as far as I can learn, has yet been discovered of de-

stroying them or banishing them from a house of which they have

got possession. The most powerful chemical acids appear to have

little effect upon them ; I have myself tried the vapours of ammonia

and of chlorine. They are, indeed, destroyed by being immersed

in boiling water, but this, it is obvious, cannot be employed in

many situations where they are found. We have adopted a plan

which has appeared to diminish their numbers in a very sensible

degree, and which may be adopted until a more effectual one be

discovered. A slice of meat is placed on the hearth of the kitchen,

which, in a short time becomes covered with them ; it is then dipped

into a vessel of boiling water, by which they are detached from it

and destroyed ; the meat is then replaced and the operation re-

peated. In this way we must, at one time, have destroyed many

thousands daily, and it seemed to have the further good effect of

preventing them from straying to other parts of the house.

I shall not occupy the time of the Society in detailing to them

the various reports that I have heard about these animals, because

I believe that many of these reports are without foundation, and

certainly without sufficient proof. I think it better simply to lay

before the Society the facts only on which I can depend ; by w'hich

means I may hope to draw the attention of its members to a sub-

ject which really appears to me of very great public interest. In

conclusion, I may add, that I shall be most happy to co-operate

with the Society in any plan of investigation or experiment which

they may suggest, as, I apprehend, it can only be by observing

their habits and becoming acquainted with every thing connected

with their history, that we can hope to discover any mode of

checking their progress.*

* Some additional observations and suggestions relative to this subject, by va-

rious members of the Society, will be found in the Journal of Proceedings.

68

Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

XIV. Descriptions of New Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera.

By W. E. Shuckard, V. P.E. S., Librarian to the Royal

Society.

[Read 4th January, 1836.]

(Plate VIII.)

I beg leave to occupy the attention of the Society a few minutes

with descriptions of some new genera and species of Exotic Acu-

leate Hymenoptera. The Society is indebted to my friend Mr. F.

Smith for the accompanying accurately executed plate.

Family. MUTILLIDiE.

Genus. Psamati-ia,* Shuck. Plate VIII. fig. 1.

Head transverse, depressed ; stemmata placed in a curve on the

vertex. Eyes lateral, distant and oval. Antennae inserted at

the base of the clypeus, nearly as long as the scutellum,

thirteen-jointed, the joints very distinct, with the scape the

thickest, the second the smallest, and the third the next

shortest, the remainder subequal, and the entire antenna sub-

fusiform ; the clypeus carinated longitudinally in the centre,

subemarginate in front, and laterally slightly produced and pro-

jecting, giving it the appearance of being subbilobate (ap-

proximating to that of Cerceris ); labrum concealed ; mandibles

strong, tridentate with the teeth subequal, the external one the

largest.

The prothorax forming a slight convex curve extending between

the tegulse of the wings ; the mesothorax with two longitudinal

furrows and a central elevation which extend from its centre

to the suture of the scutellum ; the scutellum quadrate ; and

the metathorax on a gradually inclined plane. The superior

wings with one marginal and four submarginal cells ; the fourth

apical and the second receiving the two recurrent nervures

just beyond its centre. Legs moderate, slender ; jwsterior

tarsi elongate, and all the terminal claws minute.

Abdomen lanceolate ; the first segment forming a petiole, and not

so wide as the second, and the seventh last segment has on

each side two valves projecting beyond it, each forming the

quadrant of a circle, and externally fringed; the hypopygium

quadrate. From a male.

* VaiJt-aQot;, sabulum.

69

of New Exotic Aculeate Iiymenoptera.

Obs. — This genus, which lias precisely the habit of a male Mel-

lows, is remarkable as being the only one yet characterized among

the Mutillidce, in which the second submarginal cell receives both

the recurrent nervures, as also in its clypeus, which approaches to

the structure of that of Cerceris. I have named it in allusion to

its presumed habits of frequenting sandy situations ; it may subse-

quently prove to be the male of Mr. Westwood’s genus Diamma,*

in which case it must necessarily fall ; but as there is so great a

discrepancy between them, I judge only from analogy, and have,

therefore, thought it desirable to characterise it until future obser-

vations shall corroborate, or remove, my suspicion.

A similar kind of circumstantial evidence induces me to consider

that the genus Thynnits j~ will eventually prove to be the males of

the genus Myrmecodes ; but I have no doubt that the first box of

insects sent by Mr. Lewis, or his next letter, will determine if I am

correct. Acting upon this view, I have removed 'l'hynnus from the

Scoliadce, where it was placed by Latreille, amongst which he would

have also located the present genus. Insects with apterous females

(as I presume this to be) are difficult to determine until positive

observations are made by duly qualified collectors.

Species 1. Psamatha chaeybea, Shuck. Plate VIII. fig. 1.

Chalybea , nitida, griseo-pubescens ; margine postero prothoracis albulo ;

abdomine utrinque maculis quatuor albidis; pedibus rufis et tar sis

piceis. $ .

Length 6 lines. Expansion of the wings 11^ lines.

Chalybeous, shining, loosely covered with grey hair ; the antennae

black ; the lower half of the internal orbit of the eyes, a short line

on their exterior at the vertex, the lateral productions of the cly-

peus, and the internal margin of the mandibles at the base, all white ;

the cheeks covered with long hair, as well as the thorax, which is

slightly punctured ; the prothorax with a narrow white line at its

posterior margin, interrupted very slightly in the centre ; the wings

subhyaline, their nervures black; the legs red, with the coxae and

* Proceedings of Zoological Society, April 14, 1835.

t This, I have since discovered, has been stated by Klug, in a paper on the Eyes

of Insects, in the Transactions1 of the Academy of Beilin, and, I presume, from

the observation of a correspondent in New Holland. My own supposition pro-

ceeded from analogy. Mr. Lewis has since confirmed this by having detected the

Thynnus variabilis, Leach, in copula with an apterous female congeneric with the

Tiphia ( Myrmecodes , Latr.) pedestris, Fab.

1 Abhand. der Akademie der Wissenschaften, fur 1831, p. 307.

70

Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

trochanters chalybeous, and the extreme apex of the tibiae and entire

tarsi piceous ; the tibiae very slightly externally spinose.

The abdomen with a minute white spot on each side of the first

segment at its apex, and a widely interrupted band on the three

following, which is continued, yet slightly interrupted in the centre,

at the margin of the ventral plates ; the lateral valves of the seventh

segment also white and externally ciliated. $.

From the neighbourhood of Sydney, New South Wales.

In my own Collection, and in that of the Entomological Society,

formerly Mr. Kirby’s.

Family. POMPILIDiE.

Genus. Ceropales, Latr.

Species 1. Cerop. picta, Shuck.

Nigra; ore, anlennis, scntello, prothorace, metathorace, pedibusque

rujis ; abdomine fasciis quinque albidis. 9 .

Length S| lines. Expansion of the wings 6 lines.

Black ; the orbit of the eyes, with the exception of a small

space interrupted at the vertex, and the lateral basal angles of the

clypeus, white. The antennae, remainder of the clypeus, labrum,

and mandibles, red. The thorax has the prothorax, scutellum,

tegulae, and metathorax, red ; a white line beneath the scutellum,

and the wings hyaline, with their extreme apex dark. The legs

red.

The abdomen black, with a red band, followed by a white one

just beyond the centre of the first segment, and the margins of the

third, fourth, and fifth, and apex of the sixth, white. 2 •

From the Cape of Good Hope.

In my own Collection.

Obs. — This is gayest insect I know amongst its congeners.

Species 2. Cerop. anomalipes, Shuck.

Nigra ; aureo-pubescens ; abdomine pedibusque rufo-testaceis ; femori-

bus tibiisque quatuor anterioribus brevibus, crassis, compressius-

culis ; pedibus duobus poster ioribus gracilibus. $.

Length 5g lines. Expansion of the wings 11| lines.

Black ; the first and second joints of the antennae beneath, the

entire face beneath their insertion, the clypeus and the mandibles,

with the exception of their extreme apex, white, as well as a cen-

tral minute spot beyond the base of the antennae, and the internal

orbits of the eyes halfway up ; a depression in the face on each

side just beneath the vertex, forming a slight cavity for the recep-

tion of the scape of the antennae ; the stemmata placed high, near

71

of New Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera.

the occiput, in a triangle ; the whole face, pleurae, and sides of

the metathorax, covered with a close golden down.

The posterior margin of the prothorax, a spot at its lower angle

in front, just above the coxae of the anterior legs, and a small mark

beneath the scutellum, white. The tegulae piceous ; the wings hya-

line, with their nervures black. The legs rufo-testaceous, with the

anterior and intermediate coxae yellow, and the apex of the pos-

terior tibiae, and their tarsi entirely, piceous. The anterior and in-

termediate femora and tibiae short, incrassate, compressed, their

tarsi not longer than their tibiae ; the posterior pair of legs very

long and slender, being nearly twice the length of the whole body,

and their tarsi twice the length of the tibiae. The abdomen rufo-

testaceous, immaculate. $ .

From the Brazils ?

In my own Collection.

Obs. — The extraordinary disparity in the legs of this insect

makes it especially remarkable. I am not quite sure that it is from

the Brazils, but I purchased it from a dealer with other undoubted

Brazilian insects. The immaculate abdomen also is singular, as in

its congeners it is generally spotted or banded.

Genus. Exeirus,* Shuck. Plate VIII. fig. 2.

Head small, subglobose. Antennce filiform, with twelve joints

in the $ , and thirteen in the $ ; the scape short, robust ; the

pedicle very small, nearly concealed within the scape, the third

joint the longest, the rest gradually decreasing in length, sub-

cylindrical, inserted in the centre of the face above the cly-

peus. The stemmata placed in a close triangle, rather below the

vertex. Eyes inclining forwards, not strictly lateral. Clypeus

transverse, projecting, slightly emarginate in front. Labrum

longitudinal, subquadrate, the anterior angles rounded. Man-

dibles large, robust, slightly arcuate, subquadridentate; the ex-

ternal and the third tooth the largest, the external one obtuse.

Thorax gibbous. Prothorax transverse, very slightly curving

laterally. Scutellum scarcely distinct, a triangular space en-

closed by furrows at the base of the metathorax. The wings

with one elongate marginal and four submarginal cells, the

fourth apical, and the second petiolated, receiving the first re-

current nervure near its centre, and the second towards its

extremity ; the third cell very much curved. The legs long,

robust ; the tibiae strongly spinose, 5 and the anterior tarsi

ciliated 2 , simple in the $ ; the terminal claws very large.

* eisero.

72

Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

The abdomen ovato-conical, attached by a short petiole to the

thorax, and acuminate at its apex $ , obtuse $ .

Obs. — This genus is scarcely in its place amongst the Pompilidce,

but seems osculant between it and the Spliegidce ; yet it may pos-

sibly constitute a new family with another insect that I possess,

intermediate between the two, and partaking of the characters of

both. I have named it in allusion to the extension of its legs.

Species 1. Exeirus lateritius, Shuck. Plate VIII. fig. 2.

Niger, pubescens ; capite, antennis, tibiis, tarsis, abdomineque (basi

excepto ) lateritiis. $ , (j> .

Length 12 lines. Expansion of the wings 22 lines.

Black ; the head of a yellow-red, excepting a small spot en-

closing the stemmata, and extending to the occiput; the apex of

the mandibles piceous ; the clypeus, face, and cheeks covered with

a dense silvery down.

The thorax very pubescent ; the tegulae testaceous ; the wings tes-

taceous, their nervures fuscous. The anterior legs entirely, excepting

the coxae, and the knees, tibiae, and tarsi of the remainder, lateri-

tious or of a yellow red ; of which colour is also the abdomen, ex-

cepting the basal joint, the extreme base of the second and third

joints, and the venter. $ , 2 •

From Sydney, New South Wales, and Van Diemen’s Land.

In my own Collection, and that of the Entomological Club.

Family. NYSSONIDiE, Leach.

Genus. Astata, Lat.

Species 1. Astata Australasia, Shuck .

A Ira, nitida ; ahdomine rufo. 2.

Length 4| lines.

Head and thorax black and shining ; antennae piceous, the scape

alone black ; metathorax reticulated, tegulae testaceous, wings

dark at the base, fuscous towards the apex, nervures testaceous,

legs black ; tibiae and tarsi rufo-piceous, the tibiae very spinose.

Abdomen entirely rufo-testaceous ; the margins of the segments

very slightly depressed. 2

From New Holland.

In my own Collection.

Obs. — I have described this insect, which is unique as Austra-

lasian in my Collection, to show its wide geographical range. I

know no other extra-European species of the genus, excepting

those figured in Savigny’s Egypt.

of New Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera. 73

Genus. Pison. Jurine, Spinola, Latr. <^c.

[ Tachybulus, Lat., Nephridia, Brulle.]

As some doubt and confusion still exists respecting this genus,

it will perhaps be as well to state its history. The type was first

discovered in 1805, by Spinola, near Genoa; he took three speci-

mens, one of which he sent to Latreille, the second to Jurine, and

the third he retained, and which he described, in the fourth fasci-

culus of his Insecta Ligurice, as Alyson ater. Latreille wrote him

word in 1807, that he had found the same insect, and thought it to

be the Myrmosa atra, hut if not, it was a new genus in the vicinity

of Trypoxylon. In 1808, Jurine replied to Spinola, by sending him

the generic character of the insect in question, which he called Pison,

and considered it as allied to Alyson . Latreille forgetting this, for

I presume he had Spinola’s book as soon as published, which was

in 1808, gave in the fourth volume of his “ Genera ,” published in

1809, at page 57, the characters of the genus Dolichurus, under the

name of Pison, which he refers to Spinola as the author, and under

the name of Tachybulus, he gives the characters of the true genus

Pison. The first error he corrects in the Addenda to the same vo-

lume ; and the second error he continues in the same place, by

making J urine’s Pison the synonyme of his Tachybulus. It is needless

to follow him through his several works; as in the 5th volume of

Cuvier’s Regne Animal, 2d ed. he corrects his original error, but still

refers the genus to Spinola, for he expressly says, “ Jurine is not the

author of the genus Pison.” In vol.2, p. 403, of the Annales de la

Sociele Entomologique de France, M. Brulle has laid down the cha-

racters of a genus of Fossorial H ymenoptcra, which lie calls Nephridia,

and which is identical with Pison. I have consequently been obliged

to reduce his genus to a synonyme of the old one, and I will beg to

make an observation or two upon his remarks. I shall say nothing

upon his waste of words respecting its being parasitic, from the

structure of its legs, which I have elsewhere* shown, in contro-

verting St. Fargeau’s theory, to he wholly untenable, and into

which opinion its first propounder appears to give, by not saying

a word about it, nor making the least use of it when it would have

afforded him such abundant materials in his subdivision of the genus

Crabro. But it was unnecessary of M. Brulle to recapitulate all

this, as St. Fargeau had already given the entire theory in the first

number of the same work. It was also unnecessary for him to go

into his detailed comparison with the genus Alyson, as the first

* Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, vol. i. p. 52, and Essuy

on the Indigenous Fossorial Hymenoptera, p. 19, 210, &c.

74 Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

glimpse tells us that it is more closely allied to Tachytes, Pz. ( Lyrops ,

111.) than to any other fossorial insect, view being had to general habit

rather than to any single character ; nor does it agree with Alyson in

more than a single character. Reniform eyes, which Alyson has not,

and which is one of the chief characters of the present genus, we find

straggling through several families of the Aculeate Hymenoptera.

Amongst the Mutillidce we discover it in many males of Mutilla, and

slightly so in Myzine, but always in Scolia, Sapyga, Polochrum, and

Trypoxylon, and slightly in Philanthus, when we at last observe it

as almost universal in the Vespadce , wherein the instances in which

it is not so form rare and remarkable exceptions, and one of which

the present paper will describe. The only character in which Pison

agrees with Alyson is the petiolated second submarginal cell, which

we also find in the just-described genus Exeirus, amongst the Pom-

pilidee, and in Miscophus, Nysson and Cerceris. His subsequent

observations on the families are of but little value, as they point out

no new affinities ; and the only generic character he has really

added is the single calcar of the intermediate legs, to which I may

supply, as generic also, the longitudinal furrow of the metathorax

with its central carina. I consider myself right in treating this as

generic, as it occurs in all the species, but in the Pison Spinolce it

is rather less developed. That the metathorax frequently yields

generic characters in these insects, we find in the niucro of Oxy-

belus, the spines of Nysson and Alyson, the triangle of Gorytes,

and the carinae and obtuse spines of Ampulex. I may, therefore,

be justified in treating it as such. The segments of the abdomen

are not constricted as in Cerceris, but the margin of the first three

are much depressed, which gives them slightly this appearance,

aided, too, by the sometimes considerable gibbosity of the first seg-

ment. There is great specific diversity in the form and size of the

second submarginal petiolated cell, as well as in the mode of its re-

ceiving the recurrent nervures, which are sometimes interstitial,

inosculating with the transverse cubital nervures, and sometimes

received within it; and in other instances which, in accordance with

my adopted principles, I must consider as subgeneric, — the first

submarginal cell receives the first recurrent nervure towards its

extremity, and the second receives the second recurrent about its

centre. I am enabled here to add seven new species to those al-

ready described. The genus appears to be widely distributed, as

there is one European and four African, including that from St. He-

lena, one from the Mauritius, and three from the Australian group,

where it appears to take the place of Tachytes, Pz. ( Lyrops , 111.)

75

of New Exotic Aculeate Hymcnoptera.

Division 1. (Pison, Jurine, <^c.)

The recurrent nervures either interstitial or both received by the

second submarginal cell.

Species 1. Pison ater, Spin.

Ater, subpubescens, vage punctatus ; alis hyalinis, apice obscuris, ner-

vis nigris.

Long. 4 lin.

Alyson ater. Spin. Insect. Lig. fasc. 4, p. 253.

Pison Jurini. Ib. 256 ; St. Fargeau et Serville, Ency. Meth. x.

143, 1.

Tachybulus niger. Latr. Gen. Crust, et Insect, vol. iv. p. 75.

Pison ater. Latr. ib. 387.

Obs. — I have been obliged to construct the best specific diagnostic

that I could contrive for this species, as I do not possess it, nor do

I know any cabinet in London in which it is to be found Spinola’s,

Latreille's and St. Fargeau’s descriptions contain no character be-

yond colour, which is not common to all the species, and conse-

quently generic.

Species 2. Pison xanthopus, Bridle.

Niger ; thorace tenuissimc punctato, metathorace oblique striato ; capite

anterius aureo-villoso ; mandibulis, palpis, tarsisque saturate, ab-

dominis apice obscure, rufs ; segmentis 3 primis margine argenteo-

pilosis ; alis hyalinis, apice nervisque fuscis.

Long. 4 lin.

Nephridia xanthopus. Brulle, Annales de la Soc. Ent. de France,

vol. ii. p. 403.

Species 3. Pison obscurus, Shuck.

Niger, tenuissime punctatus ; metathorace oblique striato ; cdis fuscis,

nervis tegulisque testaceis. $ , $ .

Length 4 — 5\ lines.

Entirely black, delicately punctured ; the apex of the antennse

and mandibles rufo-piceous ; the face and clypeus covered with a

golden down, which extends as high as the emargination of the

eyes. The tegulse of the wings testaceous, the wings fuscous, their

nervures testaceous; the extreme joints only of the tarsi piceous,

and the tibiae and tarsi without spines or ciliae.

The abdomen has the margins of the first, second, and third seg-

ments much depressed and covered with a dense silvery down. j.

The $ differs in having more joints of the tarsi rufo-piceous, as

well as the knees and the margin of the fourth, fifth, and sixth seg-

76

Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

ments of the abdomen, and the terminal one entirely so ; the latter

obtuse at its extremity.

From the Cape of Good Hope ?

In my own Collection.

Obs. — The above Pis. xanthopus may, perhaps, be a variety of

this insect, in which case my name must fall, and Bridle’s be re-

tained, although mine will be the species, and his the variety, as

piceous, red, and even testaceous, are frequently the immature stages

of black. The difference in the colour of the wings and nervures

may also be accidental, as his is probably an insect in fine condi-

tion, and mine are evidently old individuals ; and it is a fact long

known, that the dark colour of wings, by exposure and wear, will

become pale at the apex, and hyaline wings will frequently become

fuscous. If, therefore, my suspicion be correct, which is founded

entirely upon my male, the wings of his and the body of mine would

constitute the true species. The several differences have induced

me to describe mine as distinct, yet that of size is of no moment,

as all these insects vary greatly in that particular. I am doubtful

of its exact locality, but I believe it to be from the Cape.

Species 4. Pison Spinol.®, Shuck.

Niger, cinereo-puhescens ; alis schistaceis, celluld secundd submar gincile

minutissimd ; metatlior ace oblique striato. 5.

Length 7 5 lines.

Black ; the forehead, cheeks, entire thorax and base of the ab-

domen, covered loosely with long grey hair. The emargination of

the eyes, clypeus, cheeks, covered with silvery down. The mandi-

bles bearded externally towards the base, and longitudinally cari-

nated, the carina being formed by two furrows, their internal tooth

placed at about one half their length, and very obsolete. Labrum

transverse, slightly emarginate, and ciliated anteriorly.

The carina of the central longitudinal furrow of the metathorax

nearly obsolete, and the metathorax itself on each side irregularly

and obliquely striated, the strife diverging from the base. The

wings clouded-slaty, their extreme apex dark, and the nervures

black ; tbe petiolated submarginal cell very minute, and receiving

the two recurrent nervures at the inosculating points of its trans-

verse cubitals. The tibiae and tarsi simple.

The margins of the first, second, and third segments of the ab-

domen depressed, and with its sides and the extreme edges of their

margins reflecting an obscure silvery hue. ? .

From Sydney, New South Wales.

In my own Collection, and in that of the Rev. F. W. Flope.

of New Exotic Aculmtc Hymenoptera. 77

Obs. — This conspicuous species, the largest yet discovered, I

dedicate with much pleasure to the Marquis of Spinola, the first

discoverer of the genus. It differs slightly from the type in its

mandibles and metathoracic sculpture.

Species 5. Pison punctifrons, Shuck.

Niger, cinereo-pubescens ; fronte et thorace anteriore dense et crasse

punctato ; alts hyalinis, margine obscuriore. 2 •

Length 5| lines.

Entirely black ; the head, thorax, pectus, legs, and base of the

abdomen, loosely covered with long grey hair ; the face beneath the

antennae, the cheeks, and the sides of the abdominal segments, with

a silvery reflection ; the face above the antennae very thickly and

coarsely punctured, but which diminishes in coarseness above the

anterior stigma.

The thorax in front and beneath also coarsely and thickly punc-

tured, its disk and scutellum equally coarsely but less thickly so,

and slightly shining ; the metathorax very coarsely obliquely stri-

ated, but which is somewhat concealed by the hairs covering it ;

the wings hyaline, with their margins obscure and nervures black,

the recurrent nervures inosculating with the transverso-cubitals ;

the legs and tarsi without cilise and lateral spines.

The abdomen shining and reflecting, laterally only, a silvery

hue. 5 .

Either from India or St. Helena.

In the Cabinet of Mr. Westwood.

Obs. — This species at first sight much resembles the P. Spinolce,

but, upon examination, it is at once distinguished by its very coarse

sculpture, and the size of its second submarginal cell.

Species 6. Pison Westwoodii, Shuck.

Ater, glaher, tenuissime punctaius ; capite c interim argenteo-villoso,

alls hyalinis, margines versus leviter nehulosis ; metathorace ob-

liqui ) striato, carind obsoletd. 9 .

Length lines.

Entirely atrous ; the head and thorax very delicately punctured,

the lower part of the face and clypeus covered with a silvery down.

The metathorax obliquely striated, and the carina of the central

channel obsolete. Tbe wings hyaline at the base, and clouded

towards their apex ; their nervures black ; the first and second re-

current nervures received distinctly within the second submarginal

cell. The tibiae and tarsi simple.

78 Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

The abdomen deeply atrous and slightly shining, but without

any silvery reflection. ? .

From Van Diemen’s Land.

In the Collection of Mr. Westwood.

Obs. — This species is distinguished from all its black congeners

by the way in which its recurrent nervures are received in the

second submarginal cell ; it is also remarkable for its intensely

atrous hue, without any of the silvery reflection which is seen in

them. I am not sure that this is peculiar to it, for it may have

arisen from immersion in spirits of wine, which the specimen has

much the appearance of having undergone. I have much pleasure

in dedicating it to my friend Mr. Westwood, whose highly interest-

ing Collection has furnished me with the means of describing seve-

ral new species in this much-neglected genus.

Species 4. Pison auratus, Shuck.

Niger, subtiliter punctatus, aureo-pubescens ; segmento primo et ultimo

abdominis marginibus reliquis et pedibus rufo-testaceis. $ .

Length 6 lines.

Black ; delicately punctured ; entirely covered with a dense

golden pubescence, which is thickest upon the face and clypeus,

the cheeks, collar, sides of the mesosternum and metathorax and

the depressed margins and sides of the segments of the abdomen.

The first five joints of the antennae and the mandibles, except their

apex, rufo-testaceous, as well as the legs, the calcaria and apical

pulvilli of which are black ; the tarsi and tibiae all simple. The

metathorax laterally delicately punctured, the central carina very

conspicuous : the petiolated second submarginal cell rather large,

and distinctly receiving the recurrent nervures within it, although

close to the transverso-cubitals. The tegulae testaceous ; the wings

clouded, their nervures piceous.

The abdomen rufo-testaceous, with the base of the intermediate

segments black. $> .

From the Cape of Good Hope ?

In my own Collection.

Obs. — This is a very beautiful insect ; the size of the petiolated

cell is a little larger than in its congeners. Its sculpture is appa-

rent only where its pubescence is rubbed off, and I expect that, in

fine condition, it is wholly covered with the golden down. I am

doubtful of its true locality, but I think it is from the Cape.

ofN eio Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera. 79

Division 2. (Pisonitus, Shuck.)

The first recurrent nervure received towards the apex ofi the first

submarginal cell, and the second recurrent received about the middle

of the second submarginal cell.

Obs. — In adhering strictly to the neuration of the wings as a

distinctive character for generic subdivision in the Aculeate Hyme-

noptera, it would be proper to consider this as a genus, but I am

less inclined to adopt it as such here, from the circumstance that

all the preceding species vary in the mode of receiving the recur-

rent nervures, and in the size of the second submarginal cell, and

also because there is no other character to support this generic se-

paration. In adopting this same principle in my “ Fossorial Hy-

menoptera,” upon separating Mimesa from Psen, and Celia* from

Stigmus, my views have been supported by general habit, but here

it is not so.

Species 8. Pison rufipes, Shuck.

Niger ; mandibulis basi, palpis pedibusque rufis ; tegulis testaceis ;

metathorace oblique striato $ .

Length lines.

Black ; delicately punctured ; the face beneath the antennae, the

clypeus, the cheeks, the collar, and sides of the segments of the

abdomen, all covered with a silvery down. The mandibles and

palpi rufescent.

The metathorax obliquely striated ; the central carina distinct ;

the tegulee testaceous ; the wings slightly clouded with fuscous,

their nervures black. The legs red, with the exception of the an-

terior pair of coxae, trochanters, and femora, and the base of the

posterior coxae ; the tibiae and tarsi simple.

The abdomen somewhat less shining than in its congeners. $ .

From Van Diemen’s Land.

In the Collection of Mr. Westwood, and in my own.

Species 9. Pison argentatus, Shuck.

Ater, argenteo-pubescens ; metathorace oblique striato, striis distantibus,

inter stitiis punctatis ; alls hyalinis, tegulis testaceis. 5.

Length 3 lines.

* This name I have discovered since my book was printed is pre-occupied, Zim-

merman having used it to designate a genus of the Harpalidte in his monograph of the

Zabroides : but this would have been of no consequence whilst it was merely a name;

but he has since characterized the genus in a paper on the Amaroides in the

“ Faunus” of Gistl. It is, therefore, necessary to change my name, and I propose

in lieu Spilomena , from rm ’Kaifj.a, ruevus, the synonyme of

SO Mr. W. E. Shuckard’s Descriptions

Atrous ; densely clothed with a silvery pubescence, especially

the face, cheeks, collar, sides of the thorax, sternum, metathorax,

and legs, and the sides and margins of the segments of the ab-

domen. The metathorax with the central carina distinct, laterally

obliquely striated ; the striae far apart, and the interstices punc-

tured. The tegulae testaceous. The wings hyaline, their apex

somewhat obscure, arid the nervures black ; the legs unarmed.

The abdomen having the constrictions of the three first segments

very conspicuous. $ .

From the Mauritius.

In the Collection of Mr. Westwood.

Obs. — The chief character of this elegant little insect, namely,

its silvery clothing, is evanescent, as it would exhibit this only in a

fine condition ; but the sculpture of its metathorax, combined with

the peculiar neuration of its wings, afford sufficient positive cha-

racters to separate it from its yet known congeners. It is unique

in Mr. Westwood’s Collection. This genus, as I have above re-

marked, appears very widely distributed, even more so than Ta-

chyies, the metropolis of which is either Africa or India, whereas,

most probably, that of the genus before us is New Holland and its

dependant islands.

Family. CRABRONID.E, Leach.

Genus. Gorytes, Lat.

(Hoplisits, St. Farg.)

Gorytes Brasiliensis, Shuck.

Ater, nitidus ; ahdomine J asciis tribus Jlavis.

Length 5| lines.

Entirely black and shining ; the antennae slightly increasing to-

wards the apex, and a little longer than the head ; the scape, be-

neath at its apex having a minute yellow dot ; labrum piceous, cili-

ated externally ; the mandibles rufo-piceous in the middle.

The thorax having the collar on each side marked with a short

and slight sericeous line : the metathorax very gibbous ; the tri-

angle at its base with a central furrow produced by two longitudinal

carinae, and laterally and posteriorly rufous. The wings dark at

the base as far as the commencement of the marginal and second

submarginal cells, beyond which they are hyaline ; the nervures

black ; the tibiae and tarsi shining and spinose, the anterior pair

of the latter strongly ciliated.

The abdomen with the first segment prolonged anteriorly into a

petiole ; the margins of the second, third, and fourth segments with

of New Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera. 81

a very narrow yellow border; the margin of the sixth segment tes-

taceous. $.

From the Brazils.

In my own Collection.

Obs. — I believe this to be the first instance of this genus recorded

as Brazilian.

Family. VESPID/E, Leach .

Genus. Paragia,* Shuck. Plate VIII. fig. 3.

H ead transverse, stemmata placed in a triangle on the vertex ;

eyes oval, lateral, distant ; antennae geniculated, inserted above

the clypeus near the middle of the face, and at equal distances

between the eyes ; clypeus slightly convex ; labrum con-

cealed ; mandibles robust, tridentate, the external tooth the

largest.

Thorax nearly square ; the prothorax making a wide curve back-

wards to the tegulae, its anterior angles acute; the tegulae placed

about the middle of the thorax ; an impression of the shape of a

lyre upon the mesothorax, with another longitudinal and cen-

tral; scutellum subquadrate, very prominent ; metathorax ab-

ruptly truncated ; anterior wings with one marginal cell, and

two submarginal cells, the first of the latter very long and nar-

rowing towards the second, which is nearly oval, and receives

both the recurrent nervures ; the legs short, and somewhat

robust ; all the tarsi longer than the tibiae, the anterior pair

furnished beneath with pul villi ; the terminal claws minute,

and the apex of all the tibiae furnished with a pair of small

calcaria.

Abdomen elliptical, abruptly truncated at its base.

Obs.— This genus I have named in allusion to its deceptive habit,

which is precisely that of a Vespa ; but, upon closer inspection, its

distinctive characters are exhibited, which are very remarkable,

and form another exception to the general characteristic of the

family, even if Ceramius be removed from it, which I think ought

to be. The distinctions are its ovate, not reniform eyes, and its

two submarginal cells. In this latter character it however partici-

pates with the Masaridae. The structure of its mandibles and an-

terior tarsi induce me to consider it as social, and it is possibly the

New Holland analogue of the genus Vespa , which I have not yet

discovered to come from that place ; but even, if so, it must be of

unfrequent occurrence, as mine is the only specimen I have hitherto

* From na^a.yii,fallo.

G

VOE. II.

82 Descriptions of New Exotic Aculeate Hymenoptera.

seen. I do not remember if it folds its wings, as when it came

into my possession I was too young an Entomologist to know tlie

value of that character, to observe it before I set the insect.

Species 1. Parag. decipiens, Shuck. PI. VIII. fig. 3.

Niger, opacus, abdomine sordide ochraceo. £ .

Length 9 lines. Expansion of the wings 14 lines.

Black, opaque ; with the head and thorax delicately shagreened ;

two minute yellow spots between the base of the antennae. A nar-

row yellow line on each side of the anterior edge of the prothorax,

and another spot of the same colour beneath the base of the wings,

which are subhyaline, with a dark cloud covering their marginal,

submarginal, and discoidal cells, and their nervures black ; the

legs black, and, the posterior ones especially, covered externally and

internally with a close silky down, which gives them the appearance

of having a white streak.

The abdomen of a dirty ochre yellow, which was probably ori-

ginally of a bright tint ; the extreme base of the first segment

black, which descends in the centre to its margin. £.

From New South Wales.

In my own Collection.

Obs. — If my suspicions be correct as to the social habits of this

insect, it is probably a neuter.

Mr. W. W. Saunders on the Paussidce.

S3

XV. Descriptions of two Species of the Coleopterous

Family Paussidae. By W. W. Saunders, Esq., F.L.S ,

$c.

[Read December 7, 1835.]

Paussus Fichtelii, Donovan.

Plate IX. fig. 1.

Castaneous. — Antennce nearly as long as the head and thorax,

with the terminal joint large, somewhat quadrangular, exca-

vated on the exterior side, the outline waved, and a sharp

pointed production on the external basal angle. Head as broad

as the thorax, hirsute, nearly orbicular, with a deep longitudinal

excavation between the eyes, extending from the base of the

antennae to half the length of the head. Thorax hirsute, quad-

rate, with a deep transverse wavy excavation across the middle,

and a longitudinal impression down the centre posterior part,

and underneath black. Elytra hirsute, quadrangular, twice the

breadth of the thorax, and nearly twice as long as broad ;

black, with the base, apex, and a narrow marginal band, cas-

taneous. Abdomen projecting considerably beyond the elytra.

Legs moderate, slender, with the base of the femora black.

Length one-fourth of an inch.

Obs. — This rare insect, of which only two or three specimens

exist in this country, was sent to me from Calcutta, where it was

collected by my friend F. Bellairs, Esq., to whom I am also much

indebted for many other valuable additions to my collection.

Although the species is already known, I have thought that a

good figure and description from a fresh specimen might still be

interesting.

Fig. 1 a. Head and front of thorax in profile. 1 b. Abdomen beneath.

P. S. — The vertical impression on the head incloses two minute

elevated tubercles ; the legs are comparatively very slender, the

tarsi long and simple and distinctly five-jointed ; the lateral

lobes of the mentum long and acute ; the elytra furnished at the

posterior external angles with a small tubercle, as in several other

species of the genus ; the two masses at the extremity of the

abdomen having the appearance of a deeply emarginate joint, are

formed only of a very thick brush of hairs, and the under side of

the abdomen is five-jointed ; the second and third joints being

very short, the fourth simple, and the fifth short. J. O. W.

voi.. ii.

h

84 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of

Platyrhopalus fVestwoodii, mihi. Plate X. fig. 5.

Castaneous. — Antennce about two-thirds the length of the head

and thorax, the terminal joint very large, nearly lenticular,

slightly hirsute, with a pointed production at the base ex-

teriorly. Head somewhat orbicular, nearly as broad as the

thorax, darker posteriorly, the eyes projecting. Thorax

cordate, slightly hirsute, with three transverse impressed

lines across the base, dark-castaneous, the anterior angles

lighter. Elytra twice the breadth of the base of the thorax,

half as long again as broad, slightly hirsute, with a large tri-

angular black spot on each elytron at the base ; another large

somewhat semicircular discoidal one about the middle, and

a third small lunular one at the apex. Abdomen projecting

slightly beyond the elytra. Legs moderate, stout, with the

knees black.

Length seven-twentieth of an inch.

Obs. — This very fine species was kindly presented to me by

Sigismund Rucker, Esq., jun., who purchased it in a collection of

insects from the East Indies. I have named it after our most

indefatigable Secretary, whose Monograph on the Paussidce in the

Linnaean Transactions, will ever be a memento of his great skill

and exertions in the science of Entomology, and in the present

instance I have to thank him for the two excellent figures which

accompany these two descriptions.

Plate 10, fig. 5 a, represents the maxillary and labial palpi.

5 b, represents the antennae seen in front.

5 c, represents the tarsus above.

5 d, represents the tarsus laterally.

5 e, the underside of the abdomen.

XVI. Descriptions of some new or but imperfectly known

Species belonging to the Coleopterous Family Paussidee.

By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S.

[Read December 7, 1835.]

Since the publication of my Monograph upon the Paussidce ,

in the 16th volume of the Linnaean Transactions, l have ob-

tained a knowledge of several newr species of this extraordinary

group of beetles, and also gained a more perfect acquaintance

with others, which, at the period when this Monograph was written,

new Species of the Coleopterous Faintly Paussidce. 85

I only knew through the descriptions of preceding authors. Of

these, as well as of the former, I have been induced to believe

that descriptions and figures, in conjunction with those described

by our colleague Mr. Saunders, might not be unacceptable to

Entomologists by way of supplement to my former work. I have

also added a notice of such other species as have been introduced

into the family by authors subsequent to the publication of my

Monograph, which, together with the present papers, will conse-

quently comprise all that has been hitherto written upon the

subject.

Paussus Klugii, Westw. Plate IX. fig. 2.

P. niger ; antennarum clava parallels,, margine postico serrato ;

thorace bipartito, maculis duabus aureo-sericantibus ornato ;

elytris piceis, margine laterali ferrugineo.

Long. corp. lin. 3^.

Habitat apud Promont. Bonae Spei. D. Krebs.

In Museo Reg. Berol. et nostr. Amicissim& eommun. Dom.

King.

Syn. P. runcinatus. King, MSS.

Caput nigrum, punctatum, subrotundatum, antice emarginatum,

postice in collum parvum constriction ; linea impressa e clypeo

ad verticem extensd ; antennae nigrae, punctatae, clava magnd

angustiori, lateribus subparallelis, margine antico fere recto et

acuto, postico vero multo crassiori et in naviculam longam

excavato, cujus pagina superior integra, inferior vero tuber-

culis G marginalibus instructa. Thorax capite multo major,

bipartitus, parte antica ad latera angulariter product^, et in

medio transverse et acute elevata ; parte postica e praecedente,

excavatione magna et irregulari separata, in qua maculae 2

magnae laterales aureolae-sericantes ; thoracis basis punctatis-

sima. Elytra thorace dimidio latiora, laevia, nitida, picea,

marginibus lateralibus apiceque rufescenti-luteis, humeris

impressis angulisque posticis tuberculo parvo instructis.

Pedes nigri, geniculis tarsisque piceis, crassi, dilatati, pari

postico latiori ; tarsi distincte 5-articulati. Abdomen ru-

fescens, elytris hand obtectum, infra segmentis ventralibus 5

simplicibus ; 2, 3, et 5 minoribus.

In honorem Dom. Klugii, Entomologorum Germanicorum prin-

cipis, Soc. Ent. Lond. Socii honorarii, quo haec species

amicissime mecum communicata est.

In the collection of M. Lucien Buquet is contained an insect

belonging to the family Paussidce, to which is attached the manus-

H 2

86 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of

cript name of Xiphocera brunnea of Latreille. Having been kindly

permitted by its conscientious possessor to examine and figure

this insect, I have not the least doubt of its specific identity with

the Paussus Klugii, notwithstanding M. Buquet’s insect is from

Senegal, and Dr. Klug’s from the Cape of Good Hope. The

structure of the head, antennae, and thorax, is precisely similar,

the latter being furnished with the two sericeous patches which

especially distinguishes this species. The elytra are similarly

subnitidous, finely punctured with a marginal series of hairs. The

specific name given to the insect by Latreille, brunnea, indicates

its colour, which is entirely dark-castaneous, with the elytra ru-

fescent at the side. In this respect it therefore differs from the

typical specimens of Paussus Klugii, but as the specific dis-

tinctions of this family consist of structural variations, and not

of differences of colour, I can only think this a variety of the

former. Moreover, as it is also certain that variation in the

formation of the antennae is in this group only of specific and not

of generic rank, I cannot adopt Latreille’s idea relative to the

generic distinction of this insect from the true Paussi ; if indeed we

were to proceed in the other manner, it would be necessary to

form almost every species into a distinct genus.

It is a curious point in geographical Entomology, that a species

of this curious and very rare genus should be so widely distri-

buted as to be found both in Senegal and at the Cape of Good

Hope. The same observation has however recently been made

upon other insects.

Paussus Burmeisteri, Westw. Plate IX. fig. 3.

P. obscure piceo-castaneus ; elytris magis rufescentibus ; capite

pone oculos lateraliter spinoso ; thorace bipartito ; elytris an-

gustioribus, pedibusque dilatatis.

Long. corp. lin. 3.

Habitat apud Promont. Bonae Spei. D. Mund.

In Mus. Reg. Berol.

Syn. Paussus contractus, Klug. MSS.

Corpus totum obscurum, piceo-castaneum, pilis vel setis cinereis

indutum ; elytris, praesertim versus apicem, magis rufescen-

tibus. Caput ovale, antice attenuatum et in medio marginis

antici impressum, pone oculos utrinque in spinam brevem

productum, linedque impress^ e clypeo ad verticem extensd,

ubi in excavationem parvam rotundatam desinet, in qud

tuberculum parvum videtur ; antennarum clava magna ovalis,

disco supra valde irregulari, marginibusque irregulariter

new Species of the Coleopterous Family Paussidce. 87

sinuatis, basi externe in spinam parvam obtusam producta,

et interne angulata. Thorax subovalis capite paullo latior

et longior, bipartitus, scil. lateribus ante medium valde ex-

cisis, parte antica elevata, postica ejusdem latitudinis, et antice

profunde et irregulariter sulcata. Elytra thorace tantum

paullo latiora, abdomen baud tegentia, ad liumeros impressa,

tuberculo parvo versus angulos posticos. Pedes sat breves ;

femoribus tibiisque valde dilatatis, complanatis, his ad apicem

externe angulariter productis.

In bonorem amici Henrici Burmeisteri, M. et Ph. 1)., Soc.

Ent. Lond. Socii, &c., Entomotomi Halensis peritissimi.

Fig. 3 a, b, c. Antenna in different positions. 3 d. Labial palpus. 3 e. Part of

head and thorax in profile.

Paussus Shuckardi , Westw. Plate IX. fig. 4.

P. ferrugineus ; capite longitudinaliter, thoraceque tranversfe sul-

catis, hoc subbipartito ; antennis gracilibus, subcylindricis.

Long. corp. lin.

Habitat in Africa Australi.

In Mus. D. Shuckard.

Syn. Paussus cylindricornis, Shuckard, MSS.

Caput ovale, ferrugineum, antice vixemarginatum, sulco profundo

e margine antico ad verticem extenso, lateribus inter oculos et

basin antennarum elevatis. Antennae punctatae, ferruginese ;

articulo lmo. subquadrato, ultimoque elongato prioris cras-

situdine, subcylindrico, basi externe subacuto. Mentum dente

centrali fere obliterato, dentibusque lateralibus obsoletis.

Palpi maxillares articulo ultimo minuto ; labialium articulo

ultimo subcultrato, apice attenuato. Thorax capitis magni-

tudine et illo baud latior, lateribus antice obtuse dilatatis,

sulco profundo transverse divisus, parte antica elevata et

in medio linea longitudinali subdivisa. Elytra oblonga

thorace duplo latiora, ad liumeros impressa, postice truncata,

et ad angulos posticos tuberculo parvo arinata, laevia, sub-

nitida, ferruginea, abdominis fere longitudine. Pedes sat

breves, compressi, haud dilatati, punctati, setis brevibus

aurantiis induti ; tarsis brevibus, tibiarum fere latitudine, dis-

tincte 5-articulatis. Abdomen subtus 5-articulatum, articulis

2, 3 et 5 brevibus ; 4to postice spinis 2 parvis divergentibus

armato.

In bonorem Dom. Shuckardi, Soc. Ent. Lond. Socii, Hyme-

nopterologi acutissimi nominatus.

Fig. 4 a. Head and thorax iu profile. 4 l>. Head beneath. 4 c. Maxillary.

4 d. Labial palpus. 4 c. Abdomen beneath. 4 f. posterior tarsus.

88

Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of

Paussus ruber, Thunberg. Plate IX. fig. 5.

In my Monograph (p. 635) I was compelled, in consequence of

not having seen a specimen of this species, to introduce only a

transcript from the character given of it by Thunberg, who stated

it to he an inhabitant of the Cape of Good Hope, adding only a

suggestion that this author had given an incorrect description of

the structure of the head and thorax, by regarding the anterior

portion of the latter as the posterior part of the former, and a

hint that this species might possibly be identical with my Paussus

Linncei. Having, however, during my visit at Berlin found a

specimen thus named on the authority of Dr. Klug in the Royal

Museum of that city, I made a drawing and the following descrip-

tion of it, whence it will be seen that my conjecture relative to

the structure of the head and thorax is confirmed, but that the

insect is much more nearly allied to Paussus excavalus (an inha-

bitant of Senegal) than to P. Linncei.

P. castaneo-ferrugineus, subnitidus, vix pubescens, sub lente

punctatissimus, vertice impressionibus binis parvis ovalibus,

capite antice emarginato. Antennarum clava obovalis, margine

antico subrecto et subacuto, impressionibus nonnullis trans-

versis intra marginem ; margine postico multo crassiori et in

sulcum magnum oblongo-ovalem excavato, serieque trans-

versa impressionum in pagina ejus inferiore, angulo ex-

terno basali hamato, denteque parvo obtuso in medio mar-

ginis basalis. Thorax bipartitus capite major, parte antica

lateraliter in spinam utrinque producta, parte postica longiori

sed angustiori, antice lateraliter subspinoso, disco profunde

et irregulariter sulcato. Elytrorum apices externe tuber-

culati. Pedes subdilatati, complanati, rugose punctati.

Long. corp. lin.

Habitat apucl Prom. Bonse Spei. D. Krebs.

In Museo Reg. Berol.

Fig. 5 a. Antenna. 5 b. Labial palpus. 5 c. Head and thorax in profile.

Paussus cochlearius, Westw. Plate IX. fig. 6.

P. totus ferrugineus, subnitidus, flavo-pilosus ; antennis apice

eroso-cochleariis, capite lined impressd longitudinali e clypeo

ad medium verticis ducta, thorace bipartito.

Long. corp. lin.

Habitat in Africa Australi,

In Museo D. W. Hooker, M. E.S.

Species parva. P. rubro, Thunb. valde affinis, e quo differt

tamen structura antennarum, linea impressd capitis, &c.

new Species of the Coleopterous Family Paussidee. 89

Co/jwf subovale, depression, antice emarginatum, postice in collum

breve angustatum, linea impressa e medio emarginationis ad

medium verticis extensd. Antennee ferrugineae, clava ad

basin valde compressaet externe in spinam producta ; mavgine

antico omni acuto, dimidio apicali marginis postici dilatato,

excavato, cocbleario ; margineejus postico impressionibus qua-

tuor longitudinalibus, lobos totidem formantibus. Mentum

dente centrali fere obliterato. Thorax capite vix major, bi-

partitus, parte antica lateribus angulatis et postice elevata ;

parte postica angulo ejus antico laterali prorninente, trans-

versa, et in medio valde impressa, tuberculis duobus minutis

centralibus. Elytra oblonga thorace duplo latiora, ad hu-

meros impressa, postice truncata, angulo apicali utrinque

laterali tuberculato, ferruginea, subnitida, setis flavescen-

tibus induta, setis in lineas irregulares dispositis. Abdominis

segmenta integra. Pedes satis elongati, tibiis praesertim

dilatatis ; tarsis brevibus, 5-articulatis.

Fig. 6 a, b. Antennae in different positions.

Paussus armatus, Westw. Mon. Linn. Tr. 16, 646. Tab. 33.

f. 62. Plate IX. fig. 7 a, b, c.

Having examined a specimen of this species now in the collec-

tion of the Rev. F. W. Hope from Sierra Leone, especially with

reference to its trophi, the doubts which I expressed in my Mo-

nograph as to the propriety of placing it in the genus Paussus are

removed, there being no important variation beyond specific dis-

tinctions to separate it from the other species of that genus.

The insect figured by Guerin in his Magazin de Zoologie, In-

sectes, pi. 49, and details, fig. 1 b, and 1 c, under the name of

Paussus cornutus, Chevrolat, is identical with my Paussus armatus,

as indeed M. Chevrolat had ascertained, the latter name being now

attached to it in his collection. It is from Senegal.

Paussus curvicornis, Chevrolat. Plate X. fig. 1.

This species, figured by Guerin in his Iconographie du Regne

Animal, Insectes, pi. 40, fig. 8 and 8 a, is founded upon an insect

partially figured in the Mag. de Zool. Ins. pi. 49, and therein

considered as a doubtful variety of the P cornutus of Chevrolat

(P. armatus). The details are therein represented in plate 4 9,

fig. 1 a, 2, and 2 a.

More recently M. Chevrolat has communicated a note to M.

Guerin, (Rev. Zool. No. 2, page 21,) containing the following

description.

90

Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of

“ Long 10 mill. D’un ferrugineux un peu obscur, avec 1’ex-

tremite des elytres plus pale ; tete ayant sur le vertex une pointe

conique, un peu courbee en avant; corselet divise transversalement

par un fort etranglement, ayant une profonde impression a son

lobe posterieur ; elytres presque lisses avec quelques tubercles tres-

petits, et une legere dilatation a l’extremite et en debors ; pattes

d’une couleur plus foncee.

“ Hab. Senegal.”

Paussus Jousselinii, Guer.

Under this name M. Guerin has published the description of

another new species belonging to the first section of the genus

“ thorace quasi bipartito ,” and most nearly allied to P. microcephalus,

which it resembles in its antennae, of which the club is armed

with small teeth near the tip, but which is scarcely so thick as the

basal joint, and nearly cylindric (somewhat resembling the an-

tennae of P. Hardmickii).

The following is M. Guerin's description of Paussus Jousselinii,

in the Rev. Zool. No. 2, p. 21.

“ Long. 7 mill. ; larg. aux epaules 2, et a l’extremite 3 mill. Corps

d’un brun fonce presque noir, avec l’abdomen et l’extremite des

elytres ferrugineux ; tete petite, ayant un sillon longitudinal en

avant, et 3 tubercles en forme de cornes sur le vertex ; antennes

rugueuses, avec le ler article grand, presque carre, le second ou la

massue subcylindrique, trois fois plus long que le premier, un peu

retrecie au milieu, ayant en dedans et a la base un appendice

tronque et, pres de l'extremite, trois fortes dents aigues ; corselet

divise en deux par un profond etranglement, ayant une profonde

excavation longitudinale au milieu et deux taches orangees pro-

duites par un fin duvet, et placees de chaque cote et presque au

fond de l’etranglement transversal ; elytres lisses avec un petite

dent dilutee pres de l’extremite ; pattes rugueuses comme les an-

tennes.”

“ Ce curieux insecte a ete trouve au Pegou, au bord de la

riviere Yrrawady, a une journee de Rangoon; il etait pose sur

un tronc de palmier.” — Guer. loc. cit.

Paussus bifasciatus, Kollar. Plate X. fig. 3.

P. ferrugineus ; capite, antennarum apice, pedibus elytrisque

nigris, his fasciis duabus ferrugineis.

Long. corp. 2'", lat. V".

Habitat in India Orientali.

new Species of the Coleopterous Family Paussiclce. 91

Kollar in Annal. des Wiener Mus. der Naturg. Erst. Band.

1836. 2 Abth. p. 336, tab. 31, f. 7 a, b.

“ Ad species minores hujus generis pertinet. Caput suborbi-

culare, nigrum, nitidum, sat remote punctatum, impressionibus

duabus laevioribus in medio ; oculis lateralibus, vix pro-

minulis, rotundatis, nigro-obscuris ; instruments cibariis fer-

rugineis ; antennis biarticulatis, articulo baseos brevi, sub-

cylindrico, ferrugineo, articulo 2do dilatato, sublineari apicii

rotundato, impressionibus quatuor utrinque conspicuis, quasi

in articulos 5 diviso, ferrugineo, segmentis duobus apicis

nigris. Thorax sat elongatus, subquadratus, anterius multo

latior, lateribus rotundatus, pone medium subito coarc-

tatus, totus ferrugineus, nitidus, lineola transversa media

profunde impressa, altera longitudinale minus profunda, nec

marginem anticum neque posticum attingente ; hae lineolae

crucem in medio thoracis repraesentant. Elytra thoracis

parte antica latiora, oblonga, quadrangula, basi ipsa depressa,

a thorace remota, subemarginata, humeris antrorsum promi-

nulis, lateribus inflexa, immarginata, apice truncata ; abdo-

mine breviora, convexiuscula, nigra, nitida, obsoletissime punc-

tata, nigra, fascia baseos lata, apicis angusta, ferrugineis. Cor-

pus subtus ferrugineum, nitidum, punctatum. Pedes nigri,

omnes subaequales, tibiis compressis, femoribus basi tar-

sisque totis ferrugineis.”

Specimen unicum a Dom. Fichtel ex India Orientali Musaeo

allatum est. — Kollar. loc. cit.

Paussus Turcicus, Friv. Plate X. fig. 2.

P. oblongus rufus, capite elongato, opaco, thorace transversim

diviso, elytris nitidis, apice dilatatis truncatis, macula media

communi longitudinali fusca.

Long. corp. lin. 2-§.

Habitat in montibus Turcicis “ Balkan” dictis.

Frivaldszky, in Hungarian Trans. 1835, vol. ii. pi. 6, fig. 5.

Platyrhopalus Melleii, Westw. Plate X. fig. 4.

PI. piceus ; elytris castaneis latissimis, fere quadratis ; anten-

narum clava lata compressa, margine fere circulare, basi ex-

terne angulum efformante ; pedibus latissimis.

Long. corp. lin. 4| ; lat. elytr. lin. 2%.

Pl. Melleii, Westw. Lin. Tr. 16, p. 683.

Guerin, Iconogr. Regne An. Ins. pl. 40, fig. 11.

Of this extraordinary insect, an inhabitant of Malabar, I ob-

92

Mr. J. O. Westwood's Descriptions of

tained a knowledge subsequent to the printing of my Monograph,

and was therefore compelled to introduce a description of it by

way of postscript. The plate accompanying my Monograph

being at that time engraved, I was prevented from adding a

figure of it. I have, therefore, now supplied the deficiency,

adding numerous structural details, being convinced that so re-

markable an object cannot fail to interest the Entomologist.

Plate 10, fig. 4, represents the insect magnified. 4 a. The head beneath. 4 b.

The mandible. 4 c. The maxilla. 4 d. The labrum and labial palpi. 4 e.

The antenna sideways. 4 f. The antenna seen from the front. 4 g. The pos-

terior leg.

Platyrhopalus angustus, Westw. Plate X. fig. 6.

P. brunneo-castaneus, elytris angustioribus, singulo macula

magna laterali, triangulari, nigrd ; antennarum clava magna

rotundata, subconvexa, externe versus basin incisa, dente

acuto.

Long. corp. lin. 3 ; latitudo elytrorum, lin. 1 .

Habitat in India Orientali. Neemuck. Dom. Downes.

Corpus totum nitidum, parce pubescens, brunneo-castaneum, sub-

convexum. Caput mediocre, antice vix emarginatum, linea

longitudinali impressa verticem fere attingente ; oculi magni,

prominuli, laterales, nigri. Antennae articulo basali depresso,

parte interna magis producta, apice obliquo ; clava thoracis

magnitudine, margine omni acuto, supra et subtus subcon-

vexa, fere rotundata, externe incisione lata et profunda

versus basin, dente basali acuto. Thorax capite paullo latior,

lateribus antice rotundatis, postice paullo angustior (sc.

cordato-truncatus), impressione tenui transversa pone me-

dium. Elytra thorace dimidio latiora, angulis humeralibus

prominentibus, rotundatis, tuberculo ordinario ad angulum

externum posticum ; brunneo-castanea, singulo macula magna

triangulari nigra versus medium, suturam fere attingente. Ab-

domen apice nigro, subtus 4-articulatum, articulo basali

maximo, Sndoet 3tio brevibus. Pedes castanei ; tibiis rnedio-

criter dilatatis, apice oblique truncatis. Tarsi articulis basa-

libus late spongiosis.

This species was collected in the interior of India at Neemuck

by Assistant Surgeon E. T. Downes, to whom I beg leave to

present my thanks for an opportunity of describing and figuring

so valuable an addition to this singular but very rare group of

insects. He informs me that he caught a single specimen in his

room at night by lamp-light, having observed it crawling on his

new Species of the Coleopterous Family Paussidce. 93

table. If is very^closely allied to the species which Mr. Saunders

has done me ftlie honour to name after me, which is also from

India, and which is distinguished from the present species by its

larger size, its much broader outline, and particularly by the

black colour of the base and apex of the elytra, which colour is

indeed so extended over these organs as to leave the castaneous

colour almost in the shape of a narrow St. Andrew’s X. The

parts of the mouth are similar to those of Platyrhopalus JVest-

woodii.

Plate 10, fig. 6 a, represents the antenna seen from the front, and 6 l>, the under-

side of the abdomen.

Genus. Lebioderus, Westw. Plate IX. fig. 8.

Corpus depression, latiusculum. Caput thorace multo angustius,

postice in collum breve contractum, subtriangulare ; antice

emarginatum, angulis posticis pone oculos subacute productis,

vertice linea depressa ; oculis mediocribus lateralibus. Palpi

maxillares maximi, 4-articulati, articulo lmo brevissimo,

2ndo maximo, interne sensim ad apicem in lobum magnum

acutum producto, articulis duobus apicalibus multo minoribus,

subsequalibus, ultimo obovali apice in vesiculam parvam

terminato. Mention cum capite baud articulatum, trans-

versum, angulis anticis lateralibus acute productis, denteque

parvo breviori centrali instructum ; palpi labiales 4-articulati,

articulo primo parvo, crasso, 2do minuto, annuliformi, 8tio

longiori, ultimo prsecedentis longitudine, graciliori, oblongo-

ovato. Antennae maximae ut videtur 7 ?-articulatse ; articulo

lmo ovali, 2do ? minutissimo, reliquis 5 latissimis, massam

ovatam depressam et irregularem formantibus. Thorax

(scil. pronotum) latus, elytrorum fere latitudine, depressus,

lateribus anticis rotundatis et in lobum productis, posticfe

truncatis, portione postica thoracis multo angustiori. Elytra

lata, oblongo-quadrata ; humeris antice et oblique productis ;

angulis posticis tuberculo ordinario munitis. Alee 2. Pedes

sat graciles, paullo compressi ; tarsis evidenter 4-articulatis,

articulis basalibus subaequalibus. Abdomen elytris paullo

longius, apiefe acuminato, 4-annulatum.

This very curious genus appears to be intermediate between

Platyrhopalus (with which it agrees in the comparative shortness

of the terminal joint of the labial palpi, and in the structure of

the maxillary palpi) and Pentaplatarthrus, with which it might be

associated from the remarkable construction of the antennae. It

94 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of

is however quite distinct from these two genera, as well as from

Paussus, by its general characters ; so that I am compelled to

establish a new genus for its reception, which I have named in

allusion to the structure of the thorax which has some resemblance

to that of Lebia and Masoreus in the narrowness of the posterior

part, although it will be evident that in this new genus it is the

anterior lateral angles and not the posterior part of the thorax, as

in those genera, which are dilated into lobes. I am by no means

convinced that the terminal part of the antennae which I have de-

scribed as 5-jointed consists of more than a single joint with

several constrictions, not having been enabled to macerate or relax

the insect of which I have seen but two specimens. For the

like reason I have been unable to examine the structure of the

internal parts of the mouth. The insect which in my Monograph

upon this family, I have doubtingly associated with the Platijrho-

pali, under the name of Pl. apluslrifer , is not improbably a

second species belonging to this new genus, having the thorax of

a somewhat similar form ; the antennae are not so apparently arti-

culated, although if, as I have conjectured, the antennae of the

type of this new genus be not articulated but merely constricted,

there will be less reason to doubt the propriety of the association

of Pl. apluslrifer therewith, especially as traces of constrictions

are to be noticed upon the clava of its antennae, and as the latter

organs are similarly provided with spines.

Species 1. Lebioderus Gorii, Westw.

Testaceus, tenuissime punctatus; elytris paullo saturatioribus, an-

tennarum clava margine postico 4-dentata.

Long. corp. lin. 3^.

Habitat in Insula Java.

In Mus. Dom. Gory et Buquet, Parisiis.

Testaceus, supra subdepressus, tenuissime punctatus, nitidus.

Caput porrectum, subtriangulare, antice subemarginatum,

angulis posticis pone oculos acutis et paullo productis, vertice

linea impressa notato. Antennae pilosae, clava 4-constrictci et

quasi 5-annulata, annulo Imo omnium minori, transverso, tribus

sequentibus latioribus, supra et subtus elevatis, ultimoque ob-

triangulari, apice rotundato ; annulis 4 ultimis ad marginem

posticum dente parvo et gracili instructis. Thorax rufo-tes-

taceus, nitidus, punctatissimus, in medio disci paullo convexus,

linea impressa centrali. Scutellum parvum, triangulare. Elytra

rufo-testacea, nitidissima, punctatissima, thorace latiora ;

new Species of the Coleopterous Family Paussidce. 95

humeris antice et fere ad marginem posticum loborum thoracis

productis. Pedes tenues, subcompressi.

I have dedicated this very interesting insect to M. Hippolyte

Gory, a distinguished French Entomologist, member of the En-

tomological Societies of London and Paris, and author of various

valuable works, who has been so obliging as to forward it to

me from Paris, although unique in his rich collection, in order

that I might describe and figure it for the Entomological Society

of London.

Fig. 8 a. Trophi in situ. 8 b. Antenna in profile. 8 c. Underside of the body.

8 d. Tarsi seen laterally and from above.

Cerapterus Macleayii, Donovan.

Plate X. fig. 7.

This insect is known to Entomologists only by Donovan’s figure

and description ; and as this author is known not to have paid so

much attention to the minute details of his figures as are now re-

quired by Entomologists, I have thought that a figure of an insect

sent to me from Paris by M. Gory, which, except in a few par-

ticulars, agrees with the general characters of this species, would

not he unacceptable to the Members of our Society. It is from

New Llolland.

Piceus, antennis pedibusque rufo-piceis ; capite thorace minori,

obtriangulari, antice rotundato, angulis posticis pone oculos

acute productis ; postice in collum breve contracto : thorace

subcordato-truncato, capite majori ; elytris thorace latioribus,

oblongo-quadratis, angulis posticis tuberculo ordinario in-

structis ; pedihus magnis, compressis ; tarsisdistincte 5-articu-

latis.

Long. lin. 5.

The characters given above might, perhaps, be considered to

indicate a species distinct from C. Macleayii ; but I think when

sufficient allowance is made for Donovan’s inaccuracies in minute

insects, and his figures and description are compared with those

which I now offer, it would not he justifiable to give the insect

above described as a species distinct from that figured by him.

Plate X. fig. 7 a. represents a tibia and tarsus.

Genus. Trochoideus, JVestm.

In my Monograph upon the Paussidce I introduced the Paussus

cruciatus of Dalman into the family, under the generic name of

Trochoideus, observing that the general habit of the insect, the

96 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions of

form of its head, thorax, and elytra, the length and slenderness of

the legs, and the formation of the palpi, were characters which

evidently intimated a connexion with other families. The insect

upon which this genus was established, w'as found by Dalman in

Gum Copal, or rather, perhaps, (according to the recent investi-

gations of Mr. Hope,) Gum Anime* By the kindness of M.

V. Andouin I now possess an insect belonging to this genus from

Madagascar (which, in conjunction with Dr. King’s descriptions of

Madagascar Coleoptera, clearly proves that the Gum Anime insects

are inhabitants of that remarkable country). I must refer to the

Linnasan Transactions for a detailed account of this genus, and

shall here only describe the parts of the mouth.

Labrum transversum, angulis anticis rotundatis, ciliatum. (Fig.

8 b.)

Mandibulce corneae, fere quadratae, compressae, dente terminali

gracili, bifido, margine interno dense ciliato. (Fig. 8 c.)

Maxillae magnae planae, lobo terminali maximo, interne recto,

externe rotundato dense piloso, lobo interno minuto, acuto,

ciliato. Palpi maxillares crassi, 4-articulati; articulo lmo

minuto — 2do et 3tio magnis, obovatis — ultimo majori, ovato-

conico. (Fig. 8 d.)

Mcntum transversum, integrum, anticfe angustius. Labium antice

in lobos duos laterales dilatatum. Palpi labiales 3-articulati ;

lmo articulo minuto — 2do majori, pateraeformi — ultimo max-

imo, dilatato, apice truncato. (Fig. 8 c.)

From these characters, and from the tetramerous tarsi, it is evi-

dent that the affinity of this genus is more strictly towards Endo-

mychus or Eumorphus, as Dr. Klug has indeed noticed in his

Jahrbuch der Entomologie.

The insect from Madagascar appears to differ specifically from

that described by Dalman, of which the character is

Species 1. Trochoideus cruciatus, W estw. (Mow. Pauss.)

Ferrugineus, elytrorum basi apiceque fuscis, sutura fasciaque

media brunneis.

Species 2. Trochoideus Dalmanni , Westw. Plate X. fig. 8.

Fuscus, vixnitidus, pubescens ; elytrorum humeris, apice, maculis-

que quatuor discoidalibus mandibulisque luteis.

Long. corp. lin. 1§.

Habitat in Insula “ Madagascar.”

In Mus. Reg. Paris, D. Gory, Chevrolat et nostr.

new Species of the Coleopterous Family Paussidce. 97

Caput nigro-fuscum, tenuissime punctatum, pubescens. Man-

dibulae lutese. Antennae fuscae, pubescentes. Thorax fuscus,

punctatissimus, pubescens, cordato-truncatus, marginibus late-

ralibus elevatis, canalicula dorsali. Elytra ovata, liumeris

paullo latioribus elevatis, fusca punctatissima, pubescentia

versus humeros, ad apicem, maculisque 4- (2- et 2 paullo ma-

joribus et transversis) luteis. Pedes graciles, fusci; tarsis

rufescentibus, 4-articulatis, articulis 3-bus basalibus sub-

equalibus baud dilatatis.

Plate X. fig. 8, represents Troclioideus Dalmanni magnified. 8a. The head and

antenna from above. 8 f. The antenna. 8g. The hind leg. 8h. '1 he inter-

mediate tarsus. 8 i. The under side of the abdomen.

Species 3. Troclioideus Desjardinsii, Guer.

Brunneus, sericie flavescenti obtectus ; ore, antennis, pedibusque

fulvis.

Long. 4 mill. ; larg. 2 mill.

Habitat in Insula Mauritii.

Guerin, Revue Zoologique, No. 2, p. 22.

“ Cet insecte est d’un brun marron, couvert d’un fin duvet

jaunatre ; la bouclie, les antennes et les pattes sont fauves ; sa tete

est large, sans retrecissement posterieur, avec les yeux saillans et

le chaperon et le labre plus etroits et assez avances pour couvrir

les mandibules. Dans les deux individus que nous possedons, les

antennes sont composees evidemment de quatre articles, dont le

dernier forme un massue beaucoitp plus longue que les trois pre-

miers ; mais l’un des deux a cette massue beaucoup plus epaisse,

et nous semble etre le male. Le premier article est plus long que

les deux suivants reunis, arrondi, epaissi ; en avant, dans le male

et la femelle le second article est triangulaire, aussi long que large;

le troisieme est semblable au second, chez la femelle ; mais dans

le male il est tres-dilate en arriere et forme la base de la massue,

qui est aplatie, a peine deux fois aussi longue que large, tandis que

chez la femelle cette meme massue est plus etroite moins trois fois

sa largeur dans la longueur. Les palpes maxillaires sont assez

longues et paraissent formes de trois articles; dont le premier est

court, le second un pen plus long et epais, et le troisieme encore

un pen plus long que le second, conique termine en pointe. Les

palpes labiaux sont tres-courtes et termines par un article large-

ment obconique et creuse au milieu. Le corselet est en forme de

cceur tronque des deux cotes. L’ecusson est triangulaire, plus

large que long. Les elytres sont ovalaires, arrondies au bout, un

pen bordees. Les pattes sont courtes, avec les tarses de cinq

articles.” — Guer. loc. cit.

98 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Descriptions.

Genus. Megadeuterus, IVestw.

Since the publication of my Monograph upon the Paussidce, I

have had an opportunity of examining and delineating the insect

therein mentioned, as contained in the collection of the late A. H.

Haworth, Esq. under the name of Cerocomci marginata , but which

I regarded as a second species of the genus Megadeuterus.

The type of this genus, Paussus Jtavicornis, is evidently very

nearly allied to the genus Malachius, and the insect above men-

tioned is also to be regarded as possessing the same affinity.

In addition to the curious structure of the 2nd joint of the

antennae, the Megad. Haworthii is distinguished by two inter-

esting peculiarities ; the anterior tarsi are only 4-jointed, whilst

the four posterior tarsi are 5-jointed, and the antennae are only

10-jointed. In this latter respect, indeed, this insect nearly

approaches several beetles ordinarily placed in the genus Mala-

chius, such as M. Mmaculalus, &c. from North America, New

Holland, & c., but in the former respect I know of no Coleopterous

insect which exhibits a similar character.

Megadeuterus Haworthii, Westw. Plate X. fig. 9.

Caeruleus ; labro, antennarum articulis 2 basalibus fulvis, margine

toto thoracis, elytrorum sutura lateribusque rufis.

Long. corp. lin. 2f.

Habitat ?

In Mus. Hopei, olim Museo Haworthii.

Caput porrectum, caerulum, punctatum, pubescens ; antice lineis

nonnullis impressum. Labrum magnum, semirotundatum,

fulvum. Mandibulae dentatae. Palpi cylindrici, parvi, labiales

brevissimi. Antennae 10-articulatae ; lmo articulo crasso,

2do maximo, subquadrato, convexo, supra et postice excava-

tione magna, cujus latera utrinque in dentem obtusum pro-

ducuntur ; articulis reliquis nigris, minoribus, serratis, ultimo

ovali. Thorax angulis anticis acutis, posticis vero rotundatis ;

disco nigro, margine omni rufo. Scutellum parvum, rotun-

datum. Elytra oblongo-ovata, subdepressa, thorace latiora,

caerulea, punctata, pubescentia, sutura marginibusque rufis ;

rufescentia paullo ante medium elytrorum nonnihil dilatatd.

Pedes nigri, geniculis tarsisque rufescentibus.

Date X. fig. 9, Megadeuterus Haworthii magnified. 9a. The head from above.

9b. The head from beneath. 9c. The three basal joints of the antenna.

9 d. The fore leg. 9e. The posterior leg.

Mr. 11. Patterson on Blaps Mortisaga.

99

XVII. Note respecting the Larva of Blaps Mortisaga. By

Robert Patterson, Esq., V. P. Nat. Hist. Soc. Belfast.

With a Description of the Larva. By A. H. Haliday,

Esq .,M.A.

[Read January 4th, 1836.]

On the 2d of June, 1834, I had the pleasure of spending the day

at Bangor, in the county of Down, accompanied by Dr. J. L.

Drummond, and one or two other friends. In the afternoon of

that day, Dr. Wilson, of Bangor, handed to Dr. Drummond a

living “ worm,” which he informed him had been passed by a

child only three months’ old, and that a similar “ worm” had been

passed by the same child about a fortnight before. Dr. Drummond

knowing that it was the larva of some Coleopterous insect, placed

it under my care. I therefore, on my return home, procured a

small vessel, half filled with fine garden mould, and in this the

larva was deposited, and the soil occasionally moistened with a

few drops of wrater. On the 2d of August I removed a little of

the earth, to ascertain the condition of its occupant ; it was then per-

fectly developed as a pupa, but soft and white. Whether it sustained

any injury either by the replacing of the earth, or by its convey-

ance from Bangor, is a point I am unable to decide ; but on re-

visiting it on the lltli of August, I found that the unknown

“ worm” had proved to be the larva of the Blaps Mortisaga, and

had become transformed into a specimen of that insect, black,

hard, and perfect in all respects, except that the termination of

the elytra was wanting ; on one side more so than on the other.

The Blaps Mortisaga is an insect of rather rare occurrence in

this neighbourhood. My friend, Mr. G. C. Hyndman, of this

town, who has been for many years an indefatigable Entomologist,

informed me some time ago, that he had never seen this beetle in

a living state. I have been rather more fortunate, as I have cap-

tured two specimens in an old dwelling-house in this town, but

those wrere the only two I had ever met with. This scarcity of

the beetle, conjoined with the case published by Dr. Pickells, of

Cork, made me think the matter worth a little further inquiry.

Accordingly, being in Bangor on the 14th of September, I went

in company with Dr. Wilson to the house whence the caterpillar

had been obtained. The grandmother of the child, the same per-

son who had brought the larva to Dr. Wilson, now seemed inclined

to deny her former statement. She said she might be mistaken —

VOL. II.

i

100 Mr. R. Patterson on Blaps Mortisaga.

that she had seen “ worms’’ of the same kind on the earthen floor

of the cabin since that time — that her daughter, to use her own

words, “ had bid her no to say that sic an unhumanlike thing

could come frae her wean” — and finally, that if she saw any more

of the worms she would bring them to the Doctor. Accordingly

I received two more of the larvae four days afterwards, and was

satisfied from that circumstance that the first statement must have

been founded in error.

One of these caterpillars was placed on a table, and under a

watch-glass, that a drawing of it might be made. It moved so

much about, pushing the glass with it, that a weight was placed

close to the glass, and two copper coins at different parts of the

circumference. It continued pushing until it had raised the edge

of the glass on one of the halfpence, when it easily effected its

escape. Being placed in a vessel of loose earth, it immediately

began to bury itself, moving round any lump which was too hard

to be easily penetrated. In less than two minutes no portion of

the body was visible. I had hoped to have been able to make

some observations as to its food and habits, but circumstances

occurred which prevented me for some weeks from giving it any

attention. At the expiration of that time I found it lying dead

on the surface, the victim of my neglect ; and its size very mate-

rially diminished. The other individual had been placed in spirits

as soon as received, and thus retains its original dimensions.*

Description of the Larva. By A. H. Halliday, Esq.

[Read 1st February, 1836.]

The Iuliform larva of Blaps mortisaga bears, as might be ex-

pected, the closest resemblance to that of Eryx niger, figured and

described by Mr. Waterhouse in the First Volume of the Tran-

sactions of the Entomological Society : the only parts which afford

distinctive characters in slight modifications of form, being the last

segment, the legs, and the mouth.

The body of this larva is nearly cylindrical, but the belly is flat

and a little retired within the descending margin of the dorsal

* In a note subsequently received from Mr. Patterson, he states that in crawling

along, the larva makes use of two fleshy appendages on the under side of the ter-

minal segment of the body, near the anal extremity, as feet, in the same manner

as the larva of Tenebrio molitor figured and described by De Geer.

Mr. A. H. Haliday on Blaps Mortisaga. 101

shields. The head is rounded in front and square behind, finely

villous at the sides ; the epicranium, clypeus, and labrum are

transverse ; the sides of the clypeus converging in front ; the

anterior angles of the labrum rounded, and its border ciliated. The

antennae, half as long as the head, consist of two nearly cylindric

joints, (the first of which is thicker and shorter than the second,)

of a scape nearly immersed in the socket, and of an exceedingly

minute terminal joint, crowned by a hair; this in dried specimens

is withdrawn into the extremity of the preceding joint. The

mandibles are horny, broad, rounded at the back, incurved at the

tip, the inner edge unequally toothed, the left mandible having a

stronger tooth within the tip. The maxillae and labium are seated

in a large semicircular sinus of the under-face. The maxilla is

compressed, with the scape ( scapus ) apparently biarticulate ; the

shaft ( stipes ) straight, somewhat hairy ; the blade ( lacinia ) inarti-

culate, simple, armed on the inner edge with spines closely set.

The palpus is scarcely longer than the blade, tapering, 3-jointed,

the second joint longer, the third small, conic. The scape of the

labium is large ; the stem oblong, almost rectangular, with a few

lateral hairs ; the palpiger transverse, broader before, with the

margin entire ; the ligula produced in a point bearing a bristle ;

the palpus half as long as the maxillary, of two joints, the second

minute.

The segments from the second ( prothorax ) to the twelfth in-

clusive are nearly equal, (only the mesothorax and metathorax

are a little shorter than the others) ; smooth, glabrous. The

thirteenth is nearly semicircular above, but produced to a point

which is curved upwards, and armed with a small spine above ;

there is a row of smaller spines down each side from the middle

to the tip : beneath, a fleshy protuberance is interposed between

the twelfth segment and the horny shield of the thirteenth ; this

performs the office of a foot, and is furnished with a contiguous

pair of minute, ovoid, attenuate appendages. The legs are short

and compressed ; the fore-pair largest, with the coxa square,

finely villous ; the trochanter has a small convex ridge on the

under-side near the tip, armed with a few short spines ; the thigh

also has a few spines beneath near the base ; is broad, nearly

triangular, finely villous ; the shank has a row of bristles on the

inner side. The foot is a simple slightly curved claw, with a

thickened root, which bears a bristle on the inner side.

The length is about an inch, the breadth a line and two-thirds.

Colour a dirty ivory white, the incisures ochreous, the mandibles

and claws chesnut brown.

i 2

102

Mr. A. H. Haliday on Blaps Mortisaga.

Obs. — This description was drawn up from a comparison of

two specimens, one dry, the other in spirits. The parts of the

mouth were examined in situ only.

Plate XI. fig. 1. Larva of Blaps mortisaga, the upper side.

1 a. Last segment of ditto, upper side.

1 b. Last two segments in profile.

1 c. Head of ditto, upper side.

1 1 1 . Ditto, under side.

1 e. Maxillas and labium of ditto, as seen in situ.

1 f. Antenna of ditto.

1 g. Foreleg of ditto.

XVIII. Some Account of the Genus Myocoris, of the Family

Reduvini. By Dr. Hermann Burmeister, Fellow of

the Naturalist Society of Berlin, For. M. E. S., Spc.

( Communicated by J. O. Westwood.)

[Read February 1, 1836.]

In the second volume of my Manual of Entomology ( Hctndbuch

der Entomologie ) I have given the arrangement of the great group

of Land-Bugs {Geocores), which is considered in England to form

with the Water-Bugs ( Hydrocores ) a separate order, under the

name of Heteroptera. I have divided the whole group of land-

bugs into eight families, of which the Reduvini are the third. All

the very numerous and different forms, introduced into this

family, I have distributed into thirty genera, the characters of which

are exhibited chiefly in the legs, principally in the unguiculi and

the tibice. 1 have shown (page 219 and 221), that the unguiculi

have two forms, namely, they are, 1st, short, compressed, and

furnished with a large tooth on the base of the under-side ; or,

2ndly, elongated, round, bowed, and at the same place furnished

with a fine bristle, which is nearly as long as the whole unguiculus.

This second group must be divided into three sections from the

construction of the extremity of the tibice. The first section (a)

has a pit on the fore side of the tibia, in which the tarsus may be

concealed ; the second ( b ) has a large or long and narrow sole

on the under-side of the four anterior tibice ; the third (c) has

neither the one nor the other of these structures. Our genus

Myocoris belongs to the first group with the large unguiculi.

103

Burmeister on the Genus Myocoris.

This group is composed of six genera, Zelus, Myocoris, Eua-

goras, Notocyrtus, Arilus, Harpactor, which have many charac-

ters in common, and may be described at once. These characters

are exhibited in the antenna ?, the head , the upper side of the pro-

thorax (which I nam e pronotum), and in the legs.

The antennce are always formed of four joints, the length of

which is nearly the same in all these six genera. The first joint

is the longest, and has at its base a node, (tab. 11, fig. 6,) which

seems to be a distinct joint, but it is only a continuation of the

great joint. Between this first joint and the second, w-e may ob-

serve a small globose joint, which is very inconspicuous in the

smaller species, but evident in the larger; for instance, in Arilus

serratus (Red. serratus, Fabr.) and others. These little joints,

named by me articulating joints, are found between the larger

joints of the antenna; in the whole group of land-bugs, but in

many genera these joints are so small that we cannot see them.

The second great joint is the shortest of all, two or three times

shorter than the first, but of the same form. The third joint has

often the length of the first, but sometimes it is shorter, and a

little longer than the second. Very rarely I have observed this joint

incrassated (in Zelus crassicornis, Man. of Entom. vol. ii. pp. 225,

3, 1, and others), still more rarely I have found the first joint in-

crassated at the end. The fourth joint may be distinguished from

the third with difficulty ; but in many species the limits of both

may be more evidently seen. Sometimes, if the third joint is

short, the fourth is longer than the third ; but the fourth is shorter

than the third, and a little longer than the second.

The head is in all these genera horizontally porrected, but its

form is sometimes globose (Myocoris, Notocyrtus ), sometimes

more cylindrical with a short neck (Zelus, Euagoras, Harpactor),

or long (Arilus). In this last genus the neck begins by degrees,

in the others it is separated from the occiput, and constricted be-

hind the head. The antennce are placed on the front, and behind

them in many species (all of the genus Zelus, but not of Euagorus,

the majority of the genus Arilus, but not of Harpactor ) we find

two spines. The semi-globose eyes are placed on each side of

the head, and beneath these, upon an elevation at the upper side,

are the two ocelli (fig. 2). The rostrum arises from a tubercle

between the antennce, and lies on the gida, reaching the pro-

sternum between the fore-legs. The three joints forming it are

very different, but the third is always the shortest, and the two

others of equal length.

The pronotum forms a trapezium, with dilated margins, which

104

Dr. Hermann Burmeister on the

is constricted before the middle, near to the fore-margin. A

longitudinal furrow divides the pronotmn into four parts, of which

the two anterior are rough, and the posterior bear in one genus

four spines ( Zelus ). In the genus Notocyrtus its construction is

very curious, for the hind division forms a great tubercle, which

covers the fore-part of the scutellum ; in the genus Arilus some

species have the same tubercle, covered with warts (ex. Aril, tu-

berculatus , Red. tuberc. Gray, in Griff. Anim. Kingd. xv. pi. 91);

other species exhibit a large comb ( Ar . serratus ) at the same

place, and others, two longitudinal carince (ex. Zelus elevatus,

Fabr.)

The wings, longer than the body, have, as in all Reduvini, a

marginal costal nerve, and another in the middle, forming a fork,

between the twigs of which and the marginal costa we observe

three irregular cells (see the figure). In all the genera the base of

the upper wing, as far as the fork, is corneous, except in the genus

Myocoris, in which the whole wings are membranaceous, and this

circumstance affords the best character for this genus.

The legs are in all the six genera uniform, elongated, slender,

with very small three-jointed tarsi (fig. 3), and large unguiculi

furnished with a tooth at the base (fig. 4). Some species of the

genus Myocoris have many slender hairs covering the hinder

tibiae, and in the genus Notocyrtus the same tibiae have the form

of a spindle, that is, they are incrassated in the middle, and

pointed at the ends.

The characters of the genus Myocoris are as follows :

Caput globosum, collo brevi instruction.

Antennce filiformes, quadriarticulati.

Rostrum breve geniculatum, articulo primo et secundo aequa-

libus.

Alee 4 omnino membranaceae.

Pedes elongati, graciles ; tibiis subaduncis, apice oblique trun-

catis ; tarsis triarticulatis, minutis ; unguiculis dilatatis, basi

dente unico instructs, subbifidis.

I am acquainted with ten species of this genus, of which nine

are inhabitants of Brazil, and one of Sumatra.

A. Caput bicorne.

a. Caput pallidum.

1. M. gilvus, Klug.

Totus testaceus ; antennis, fascia inter oculos, oculis, elytrormn-

que membrana nigris. Long. 5 ".

105

Genus Myocoris.

Broader than the other species, the eyes more prominent, the

rostrum rather shorter, the tip brownish. Wings at the base

more coriaceous, before the extremity of the hemelytrum [or

corium] a black spot, which is connected with the black [apical]

membrane. Legs yellow, the tarsi brownish, (the hind legs

wanting).

Sumatra. From the Collection of Daldorf.

Adnot. — The two first joints of the rostrum being of equal length,

I must introduce this species into this genus, but the form ol the

body and the structure of the upper wings remove it from the

others.

b. Caput nigrum.

a. Pronoto pallido.

2. M. nigriceps, miln. t> k

Lateritius ; antennis, tarsis, tibiarumque posticarum apice nigris ;

elytrorum stigmate apiceque nigro-violaceis. Long. 9'".

Burmeist. Man. of Ent. ii. 226, 4, 1.

The sinciput, the first joint of the rostrum, and the antennae

black, the two posterior trochanters, the extremity of the poste-

rior tibiae and the tarsi of the same colour ; the other parts of the

body yellow ; the membrane of the upper wings with a brown

band at the base and like-coloured tip.

From Bahia.

3. M. tipulformis, rnihi.

Fuscus ; prothorace, abdomine pedibusque testaceis ; genibus

tibiisque posticis nigris. Long. 8'".

Head and antennae black, neck and the second and third joints

of the rostrum yellow. Pronotum red-yellow, the shoulder-angles

pointed ; the other part of the thorax, especially the hind part,

brown ; scutellum red-yellow. Wings yellow, at the base brown-

ish, with a black-brown band in the region of the stigma ; apex

brown. The abdomen yellow, at the sides brownish. Legs

yellow, the knees black ; fore-thighs with an indistinct band, the

four hinder legs with black trochanters, tibiae, and tarsi ; the

tibiae covered with fine hairs ; the wings very much longer than

the abdomen.

From Rio Janeiro.

4. M. dama, Klug.

Fusco-niger, prothorace et mesothorace sanguineis. Long. 5 .

The whole body is black but the neck ; the extremity of the

rostrum, the prothorax and mesothorax, red ; the anterior tro-

106

Dr. Hermann Burmeister on the

chanters red, the others black. The legs black, the four hind

thighs with a fine whitish yellow band. Abdomen yellow, the

third, fourth, fifth and sixth joints with a black spot at the under

side.

From Para.

5. M. personatus, mihi.

Testaceus ; capite cum antennis, rostri medio, tibiis posterioribus

femoribusque mediis nigris ; elytris fasciatis. Long. 6".

The neck, the base of the rostrum, and its second and third

joints, are yellow ; the other parts of the head black. Fore-legs

yellow ; the intermediate trochanters and the extremity of the

tibiae, and the middle of the posterior thighs, yellow. Wings

yellow, a band on the middle and the extremity black-brown.

From Para.

B. Pronoto nigro.*

6. M. gracilis, mihi. Plate XI. fig. 5.

Niger ; femoribus elytrisque pallidis, his fascia apiceque nigris.

Long. 4§".

Black, extremity of the rostrum yellow ; fore and middle legs

yellow, the tips of all and the trochanters of the intermediate legs

black, the posterior black, but the middle of the thighs yellow.

Wings yellow, with a large black band in the middle, and a black

tip.

From Bahia.

2. Caput inerme.

a. Pronotum nigrum.

7. M. pompilodes, Klug.

Fusco-niger ; abdomine femoribusque testaceis ; alis gilvis,fasci&

medic! apiceque fuscis. Long. 7 — 9 ".

The colour is black-brown, but the tip of the rostrum, the hind

margin of the pronotum, the middle of the breast, the four ante-

rior trochanters and the thighs, yellow ; the intermediate with a

brown tip, the hinder brown at the base and the tip, both with an

indistinct brown band. The tibiae black, with short and dense

hairs, and a yellow base, which is longer on the fore-legs. The

wings yellow, with a large black band in the middle, and a black

tip. The abdomen reddish, with the tip black-brown.

From Cameta, in South Brazil.

* My specimen of M. gracilis has a large conical patch of yellow on the pos-

terior part of the pronotum. (J. O. W.)

Genus Myocoris.

107

b. Pronotum nigro-rubroque varium.

8. M. bicolor, mihi.

Corpore sanguineo ; capite, pronoti maculis, pedibusque nigris ;

femoribus posterioribus fascia flava. Long. T".

Head black, neck and the fore half of the pronotum red, the

hind part black with a red spot at the margin ; scutellum red.

The breast red, with a black point upon each trochanter. Legs

black, the trochanters red, the four hind thighs with a small

yellow band in the middle. Wings black, the stigma alone

yellow.

From Brazil.

c. Pronotum rubrum sive testaceum.

9. M. braconformis, Klug.

Ruber ; capite, femoribus basi, metathorace nigris ; elytris gilvis,

fascia media apiceque nigris. Long. 6"'.

Stoll. Cim. tab. 21, fig. 147 ; Burmeist. Man. of Entom. ii. 226,

4, 2.

Head and antennae black, the second joint of the rostrum red-

dish. The fore-trochanters and the metathorax black, the other

parts of the body red, the anus brownish. All the thighs at the

base black, as are also the hind tibiae and tarsi. Wings yellow,

with a brown band in the middle and a brown tip.

From Para.

10. M. barbipes, mihi.

Sanguineus ; capite cum antennis tibiisque nigris, posticis to-

mentosis. Long. 10'".

The largest species of the genus. The colour sanguineous,

but the head (except the neck), the antennae, and the base of the

rostrum, black. The hind trochanters brown, all the tibiae black,

densely covered with short stiff hairs, the tips reddish. Wings

yellow, with a brown band before the apical membrane, stigma

orange-tawny, the end brownish.

From Rio Janeiro.

108

On the Ravages of the Turnip Fly.

■ XIX. On the Ravages of the Turnip Fly (Haltica nemo-

rum), with Experiments. By T. S.#

[Read 1st February, 1836.]

The most abundant species of beetle which feed upon the turnip

are those noticed in the present paper, but there are at least two

other, probably more, kinds which also devour this vegetable,

(. Haltica similis and Haltica /lava), though not by any means so

common.

Of the two species, some of whose habits are now to be de-

tailed, both appear to be equally abundant in this district : they

are both equally active, disappearing upon the slightest sound or

motion, retreating either under the surface of the leaves upon which

they are feeding, or vaulting to a considerable distance from them,

returning again in a few minutes, if the sound or motion be not con-

tinued. The parent insects pair in July, if not in the earlier months.

They are to be seen in the earliest fine days of February, (one spe-

cies at least, H. nemorum), and do not disappear before the end of

October, if the weather be warm : but they do not appear to feed

much after the latter end of September. They seem capable of

enduring long abstinence, as three specimens of II. oleracea were

shut up in a box on the 24th of September, and, being forgotten,

wrere not seen again for five weeks, when they were found alive

and active ; so that probably an idea entertained by some agri-

culturists of starving them, would be found difficult to act upon.

I have never been able to find any under the bark of trees in the

winter. They feed chiefly by night, when they may be found in

great numbers on the surface of the young plants, sixty having

been counted on a row of plants, just out of the ground, eighteen

inches long, and one inch broad. In the day-time they retire,

for the most part under the cotyledons, or young leaves, of the

plants.

In order to ascertain whether the eggs were deposited upon

the seed, as suggested by Rusticus, in the “ Entomological Ma-

gazine,” I tried the following experiments, similar, indeed, to his

own.

* The writer hereof has communicated his name to the Council of the Entomo-

logical Society.

109

On the Ravages of the Turnip Fly.

1834. Experiment 1.

July 12th. Some light sandy loam, richly manured, was exposed

to a light temperature, and, when cold, placed in

flower pots, previously boiled in water. Seeds of

the following varieties of turnip :

No. 1. Red Pudding,

2. White Tankard,

3. Yellow Scotch,

4. Short-topped Swede,

5. Green Round,

6. Early Round,

7. Early Stone,

were then selected, and sown in separate pots, the

pots covered with gauze, and placed in a green-

house.

Experiment 2.

Seeds of No. 2 were sown in the same kind of soil,

as in Exp. 1, but not baked, and the pots were

plunged, unprotected, in the open ground.

Experiment 3.

Seeds of Nos. 1 and 6 were sown in the same kind of

soil, baked, and plunged, uncovered, in the open

ground.

Experiment 4.

Seeds of Nos. 3 and 4 were sown in unbaked soil, and

the pots placed in the greenhouse : seeds of No. 7 in

baked, and No. 5 in mixed, earth, were also placed

in the greenhouse : all the pots unprotected, and not

prepared by boiling in the three last experiments.

15th. Seeds coming up in most of the pots.

Experiment 5.

All the varieties of seed sown in rows, eighteen inches

long, in unmanured soil, in the open air.

20th. Specimens of Haltica nemorum found upon Nos. 2, 1,

and 6, in Expts. 2 and 3.

22d. One beetle (//. olcracea ) found upon a plant of No. G,

(Exp. 1), pot protected.

Seeds of Exp. 5 coming up.

24th. Green beetles (//. olcracea ), and striped beetles (//.

110

On the Ravages of the Turnip Fly.

nemorum), found upon all these last plants, but in

greatest abundance at night.

1834. Experiment 6.

July 24th. Placed some of the beetles, found upon the plants of

Exp. 5, under glasses upon plants, growing in small

phials, in common soil.

July 25th. Plants of Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 7, of Exp. 4, unprotected,

not touched at present. No other beetle seen upon

the plants of No. 6, in Exp. 1, the solitary speci-

men having been removed when first seen.

28th. Thinned the plants of Exp. 1. None eaten, and no

appearance of beetles.

Thinned, also, the unprotected plants (Expts. 2 and 3)

in the open ground : many eaten.

Aug. 7th. Thinned the plants of Exp. 1 a second time: none

eaten. Thinned, also, the plants of Expts. 2 and

3 : many eaten. Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 7, (Exp. 4), not

touched : no fly visible.

8th. Plants of Exp. 5 thinned, and transplanted ; numbers

of beetles upon them, and much eaten : sixty were

found upon one row.

Sept. 24th. Some beetles (//. oleracea ) found feeding upon turnips:

three enclosed in a box. A very large beetle of this

kind found.

25th. Haltica nemorum seen. Turnip plants very little eaten

after this time.

Oct. 31st. A specimen of H. nemorum seen.

1835.

Mar. 28th. Repeated Exp. 5.

April 7th. Seeds of Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7, coming up.

9th. Beetles of H. nemorum , and H. oleracea, feeding upon

the young plants.

10th. Seeds of Nos. 1 and 3 coming up.

20th. Many beetles feeding. Sowed mustard, cabbage, and

radish seed.

22d. Sowed fresh seeds of all the varieties of turnip enu-

merated above. Many beetles feeding on the first

sown plants.

28th. Beetles found upon all the young plants of turnip,

cabbage, radish, and mustard.

These insects may be found upon the first sown plants of mus-

Ill

On the Ravages of the Turnip Fly.

tard and radishes in the earlier months of spring, the leaves of

which are constantly perforated by them in almost every garden.

From their extreme activity, it seems almost impossible to apply

any destructive agent to them, but probably sulphur, in a dry hot

season, scattered over the plants early in the morning of a clear

day, would destroy them, as at a temperature of from 75 to 85 it

would undergo slow combustion, and form sulphurous acid gas,

which is very deleterious to almost all kinds of insects. Lime, if

applied very late in the evening, or very early in the morning,

before the dew was off, might have some effect upon them. They

seem to be equally abundant in wet as in dry weather ; but, in the

former case, the growth of the turnip is greater than the con-

sumption by the fly, and the insects are probably not quite so

active. Watering the plants, therefore, would appear to be the

easiest remedy under some circumstances.

The specimens confined under glasses appeared to be injured

by the damp arising from the soil in which the plants grew, and

most of them escaped upon replacing the plants for their food ;

after some weeks’ confinement, some of both species (confined

each separately) paired under confinement, but the bottles unfor-

tunately, containing the earth in which eggs might have been

deposited, were lost.

The foregoing experiments appear to me to prove the conclu-

sions of Rusticus to be erroneous so far as the deposition of the

egg is concerned, and to render it evident that the beetles are to

be found in the immediate vicinity, ready to devour the plants as

soon as they make their appearance. If I mistake not, the young

plants of hedge-mustard ( Erysimum alliaria) are frequently per-

forated by these insects, and probably charlock ( S inapis arvensis ),

and other wild plants, supply them with their earliest food.

Saffron Walden.

112

Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Description of a

XX. Description of a new Genus of Exotic Bees. By

J. O. Westwood, F. L. S.

[Read July 4, 1836.]

Ordo HYMENOPTERA.

Section Aculeata.

Family Apida:.

Sub-family Xylocopides.

Mesotrichia, Westw. Tab. XL fig. 7.

Genus Anthophoram cum Xylocopis arete conj ungens, cum boc

habitu et illo pedibus intermediis congruens.

Corpus magnum, latum et crassum.

Caput transversum, facie fere plana. OcuVi magni, laterales,

ovales (fig. 7 a). Antennce in medio faciei versus marginem in-

ternum oculorum insertag, in $ 13-articulatae ; articulo 2do

minuto, 3tio elongato, ad basin attenuato (7 g ). Lahrum

parvum, bilobatum (7 b ). Mandibulce mediocres, elongatae,

curvatae, apice tridentatae, dente externo late truncato (7 c).

Maxillae longitudine mediocres, lobo apicali lato, ad apicem

acuto, extern^ subtus insertionem antennarum semicirculariter

excisae, excisione setis rigidis et acutis armata (7 d). Palpi

maxillares breves, 6-articulatae ; articulo 1 mo minuto, 2do

longiori, reliquis longitudine decrescentibus (7 e). Mentum

angustum. Labium longitudine mediocre, palpis labialibus

ejusdem magnitudine, 4-articulatis ; articulo lmo elongato,

reliquis longitudine decrescentibus (7 f).

Thorax latus, subquadratus, pilosus. Pedes antici elongati ; tar-

sorum articulis magnis, subtus planis et coriaceis. Pedes inter-

medin $ difformes, elongati ; trochanteribus magnis, sub-trian-

gularibus, oblique truncatis ; femoribus magnis, curvatis, et

subtus versus basin dente magno et curvato armatis ; tibiis ova-

libus, marginibus ciliatis, disco coriaceo ; tarsorum articulo

lmo tibiarum fere magnitudine, ad marginem dense et longe

piloso,ad apicem interne penicillo longo et contorto ornato ; ar-

ticulo 2do penicillo graciliori ad faciem internam etiam ornato,

articulis reliquis 3bus sat magnis et (praesertim ultimo) dense

ciliatis (7 h). Pedes postici breviores, crassi ; femoribus bre-

vibus, curvatis ; tibiis crassi, subcurvatis et irregulariter ciliatis,

tarsorum articulo lmo maximo dense piloso, reliquis mi-

nutis. Ungues antici et postici bifidi (7 i), intermedii vero

113

New Genus of Exotic Bees.

(lilatati et truncati, uno ad angulum externum dentem parvum

emittenti (7 k). A lx anticae angustse, ad apicem subacutae,

cellula marginali angustissima, ad apicem appendiculata ;

cellulis tribus submarginalibus lmaet 2da parvis, nervo valde

obliquo divisis ; 3tia majori, subquadrata ; 4ta rudimentali.

Abdomen magnum, subplanum, marginibus dense pilosis, $ seg-

ments 7.

Obs. — The situation of the genus Xylocopa has been the sub-

ject of much uncertainty, having been placed by Messrs. Kirby

and Latreille* in different situations at various times amongst the

genera of bees, and indeed by the last-named author its true affi-

nities are held in doubt.

The insect above described clears up this difficulty in the most

satisfactory manner ; it has all the habitus of a Xylocopa , and the

structure of its mouth very nearly agrees with that genus, but the

extraordinary formation of the intermediate legs immediately re-

minds us of those of the males of Anthophora , and on comparing

the general structure of these three genera, it will be evident that

Mesotrichia forms a most admirable connecting link between the

other two groups. The female is as yet unknown.

Species 1. Mesotrichia torrida, Westw.

Nigra ; capite, thorace antice, tibiis tarsisque 4-anticis albido- aut

fulvo-pilosis ; metatarsis posticis intus rufo-hirtis ; alis fuscis,

violaceo-micantibus ; abdomine glabro ; antennis nigris,subtus

rufis, articulo primo subtus flavo ; penicillis contortis pedum

intermediorum nigris. $ .

Long. corp. lin. 13J.

Expans, alarum, lin. 26.

Habitat in Africa tropicali occidentali.

In M us. Soc. Ent. Londinensis (olim Kirbii), et Soc. Hist. Nat.

Belfast.

* In the first edition of the Regne Animal, and in the valuable memoir upon

the distribution of the bees, published in the Hist. Nat. des Fourmis, the Xylocopa:

and Anthophore, are not far apart, but in all his other works Latreille placed

Xylocopa near the commencement, and Anthophora near the extremity of the bees.

By Kirby in the Monographia Apum Anglise, and by Saint Fargeau in the

Encyclop6die Methodique, the two genera are considered as more nearly allied

together, but not placed in immediate conjunction together.

114

Mr. Templeton’s Description

XXI. Description of anew Irish Crustaceous Animal. By

Robert Templeton, Esq. R.A.

[Read September 7, 1835.]

Zoea Pattersonii, Tempi. Plate XII.

The body is irregularly cubical, the angles bevilled or rounded

off. Superiorly the exterior is formed of a hyaline cartilaginous

buckler, which sends outward a less dense, more membranous

process, to envelope the eyes ; another forwards and a little

downwards, hollow and subulate, to form an acuminate rostrum,

which, with a slight curvature, extends to a distance in front

nearly equalling the length of the buckler. On each side, and

about midway between the eyes and the posterior extremity of

the dorsum, a smaller process is sent perpendicularly outwards,

or rather inclining a little forwards. Behind the extended bases

of these, and exactly in the middle line, arises the fourth and

largest of these processes ; it has its origin from a tolerably exten-

sive base, which is distinctly observable by the thickening of the

buckler, passes at first a little upwards as well as backwards, and

then directs itself nearly horizontally backwards, the apex acu-

minated, curving slightly downwards, and ending beyond the fork

of the tail, so as to make its entire length almost equal to that of

the body and rostrum together. It is, like the others, hollow.

Beneath the bases of these processes, the buckler extends nearly

directly downwards, so as to envelope the sides and posterior part

of the animal : the free edge being horizontal, slightly waved and

curving up anteriorly to the bases of the ocular peduncles and

rostrum, so as to leave the inferior and anterior part of the animal

completely exposed.

The eyes are very large, and carried in an obconic tumid pe-

duncle, curved somewhat backwards, and articulated to the buck-

ler, through the medium of a membrane which admits of slight

motion. When the eye is minutely examined, it seems composed

of innumerable separate eyes, extending over the whole of the

apical curved surface of the peduncle, and each so extremely

small, that no separate facets are required, the smooth membrane

enveloping the peduncle admitting of distinct vision : when traced

inwards, each terminates in a deep brown pigmentum, which, being

most obvious, gives the composed eye the appearance of being

deeply immersed in the substance of the peduncle, and assuming,

115

of a new Irish Crustaceous Animal.

when looked at from above a crescent form, equidistant from

the cornea ; when examined from the side it presents an irregular

lozenge.

Immediately interior to and beneath the eyes arise the superior

pair of antennae, from the outer sides of a rectangular mesial pro-

jection from the head of the animal forwards. They are elongate,

robust, subconic, and as if jointed ; and have their apices each

with a little appendix carrying curved hairs, and another internal

to it bearing a long waved spine and a shorter straight one. They

are a little depressed, and stand nearly directly forwards, a short

way removed from the rostrum.

Beneath and exterior to these, and curving somewhat outwards,

will be found the next pair of antennae, with an origin somewhat

anomalous. They arise very far back, behind and exterior to

some of the manducatory apparatus, and pass forwards nume-

rously jointed nearly as far as the extremity of the rostrum.

They are, like the last, depressed ; and the last joint, which is very

long, extending from the base of the superior antenna, is a short

■way from its base turned, and sends oft" an articulated offset,

which is half as long as the remaining portion of the antenna, and

ends with two spines ; after this bifurcation the larger portion of

the joint diminishes gradually in thickness, is slightly waved,

arches outwards, and ultimately ends in two pinnate spines. A

few minute hairs extend backwards a little way from the apex.

The mouth seems composed of an upper lip and three pairs of

members placed in progressive order.

The material forming the lip extends forwards, then arches

downwards anteriorly and laterally so as to form a hollow scoop,

nearly fixed in position, having scarcely any motion, and seeming,

in consequence, rather intended as a protection to the mouth, or

throat, than an organ actually used in seizing food ; its free edge

is furnished with very minute spatulate toothed hairs. Beneath

the base of this lip is articulated by one angle, the first pair of

manducatory appendages, trapeziform, reddish ; the anterior and

superior edges nearly straight and of equal lengths ; the posterior

longest and waved ; the anterior short, with three spines superiorly,

and also waved so as to form a prominence at the angle opposite

to the articulation. The gullet seems to have its position imme-

diately above these appendages; but the specimen having unfor-

tunately been dried on card, this part had so much collapsed as

to render it impossible to be distinctly traced. The viscera for

the same reason must be passed over unnoticed.

Behind and quite free from the play of the last-described bodies

VOL. II. K

116 Mr. Templeton’s Descrijjtion

on their articulation, is found the second pair in the series of ap-

pendages, placed vertically and transversely, each with its root

exteriorly in immediate connection with that of the corresponding

antenna ; from its origin it passes inwards, gives off two pro-

cesses, then has a direction somewhat downwards, curving for-

wards without losing its breadth, and ends abruptly by giving

support to seven apical, short, acuminate, toothed spines. The su-

perior of the two processes arises from the edge at nearly a right

angle, curves inwards and forwards, and gives off from its apex

two pair of curved spines. The inferior process is biarticulate,

the first joint very short, with near its apex a long straight spine ;

the second, elongate, subdivides towards its apex, the smaller part

ending in two thick short spines, the larger directed downwards,

and having three long curved spines attached.

Proceeding backwards a very short way, we find the articulation

of the last pair of appendages, which presents the form of a tri-

angle nearly equilateral, placed longitudinally, supported by its

apex, and with the base lobed and spiny. Still farther back, we

reach the bases of the two pair of swimming legs ; the “ pattes

tres courtes et cachees sous le corps, a peine visible,” I could find

no trace of whatever, and believe they only existed in the ima-

gination of Bose, the first describer of the genus, or rather that

their existence was inferred analogically when he had decided on

the position of the animal in his systematic work. The legs arise

from minute projections backwards of the fleshy part of the body,

immediately external to the intestinal tube, the primary joint in

both pairs being long, so as to project beyond the shell, robust,

and in a slight degree arched forwards, laterally compressed, ap-

pearing more so perhaps than they ought to do, from the desi-

cation of the specimen, and ultimately offering two articulations

at their apical extremity. The fore-leg is rather largest, and

from the division it sends arching forwards a five-jointed member,

terminated by a little pencil of hairs, and obviously designed to

assist in the capture of the food of the little animal, as it is ever

found in immediate connection with the parts of the mouth ; the

other part is two-jointed, of equal length, directed downwards

and outwards, and has a minute apical articulated appendage

carrying six very long waved diverging hairs. The posterior leg

sends downwards or outwards likewise a subdivision in every way

similar to the last, and backwards a very minute one composed of

three joints; the mesial largest and furnished with a long spine,

the apical with two small spines.

From the position it occupies adjoining the legs, the intestinal

117

of a new Irish Crustaceous A nimal.

canal passes upwards and backwards towards the hollow base of

the posterior dorsal spine ; it then curves downwards, accompanied

by the aorta, within the descending dorsal lamina, till it arrives at

the inferior embouchure, when it begins to pass backwards within

the joints of the tail. This tail is composed of six or seven de-

pressed joints, of which four present themselves externally, the first

from behind two transverse spines or processes ; its breadth about

equals its length, and furnished posteriorly at each side with a

little tooth directed slightly outwards. The two succeeding joints

are precisely similar, towards the tips however slightly diminished

in breadth ; the terminal joint forms a crescent, or is widely

forked, each bifurcation passing outwards, furnishing a tooth ex-

teriorly, and three plumed spines internally, and then bending

suddenly backwards, gradually diminishing in breadth, and ter-

minating somewhat acuminate, the tips curving upwards.

In colour the animal is a brilliant brownish green, the green

hue predominating about the eyes and front ; the brown inferiorly

and posteriorly, and assuming a somewhat reddish tint about the

mouth, intestinal canal, and processes from the caudal joints. The

base of the last joint of the tail is dashed with red, and a con-

colorous macula is in each of the furcse about the position of the

spines. The legs, antennae, and processes, are hyaline.

Taken by Mr. R. Patterson, V. P. Belfast Nat. Hist. Soc., in

the same place as the Anomalocera P attcrsonii (Larne Lough,

county Antrim), on the 9th of May.

Plate XII. fig. 1. Represents the animal as seen from above, and very highly

magnified.

2. Seen obliquely from beneath, to show the edge of the

buckler, and relative positions of the interior parts.

3. The greater part of one side removed to show the positions

of the parts of the mouth and of the legs.

4. Part of this further enlarged, to show more clearly the

mouth and appendages.

5. Part of the head, the eye being removed to exhibit the ori-

gins of the antennae, and the connection of the inferior

to the second series of oral appendages.

6. 6'. The last joint of the inferior antenna seen in two posi-

tions.

7. Tip of the same antenna.

8. One of the second series of oral appendages. 8*. Tip of

the superior process of the same.

9. The articulated appendage at the tip of the larger division

of the legs showing tire mode of attachment of the six

hairs.

It). One of tire spines of tire last joint of the tail, to show the

manner in which it is plumed.

K 2

118

Mr. Templeton’s Description

My friend Mr. Patterson informs me that, when alive, the pul-

sations in the tail were extremely visible, and amounted to 122 in

a minute. He refers the specimen to a figure published by Mr.

Thompson, of Cork, in his Zoological Researches, and remarks

that he has no doubt of their identity. With this opinion I cannot

concur, if the representation given by Mr. Thompson be correct,

which I have no doubt it is. In this latter ( Zoea Thompsoni), the

body is proportionally much longer, the processes in length much

shorter, the eyes differently disposed, and the tail, or abdomen,

shorter, narrower, and with processes, no trace of which appear

in the above. I have therefore, as it does not appear to agree

either with Zoea pelagiea, or Z. clavata, no hesitation in consi-

dering it a new species, and confer on it, with much gratification,

the name of the discoverer.*

The genus Cyclops of Muller at present includes a number of

species with characters sufficiently decided to warrant their being

formed into subgenera. Dr. Leach long since separated Calanus.

In a paper I had lately the honour to present to this Society, I

detailed the characters of another, being the genus, Sapphirina,

Thompson: Anomalocer a Patter son'll forms a third, and two yet

remain clearly distinguished from the other numerous species asso-

ciated with them in the genus. Attending only to the external forms,

since our knowledge of their minute structure is still too limited

to be used with effect in assigning their place with precision, we

may arrange them in somewhat of the following manner : —

Cyclops, Auct.

Antennae long ; annuli of the body suddenly diminishing in

breadth, forming a tail.

Eye single, pedunculate ; inferior antenna with a radical

branch.

Anomalocer a. . . .Type, A. Patter sonii.

Eye deeply immersed in the head.

Superior antennae moderately long. Inferior rather long.

* I have again to express my regret that the specimen I have had the good

fortune to examine had not been preserved in spirits, as the degree to which desi-

eation bad been carried leaves still some doubts in my mind as to the exact form

of the joints in some parts ; but this, I hope, will not long obscure the history of

this genus, as I am aware my friend Mr. Westwood, the indefatigable Secretary

of the Entomological Society, possesses some beautiful specimens preserved in a

proper manner, and whose size is such as to admit of more minute and careful

examination, [,2’oea Gigas, Westw. in Philosoph. Trans. 1835, pi. 4, fig. A.

with details.]

vf a Tietv Irish Crustaceous Animal. 1 19

Inferior antenna? bifurcate ; body elongate.

Omethia. .

CTyp e Cyclops rubens, Mill.

(C. Castor, J urine.)

Inferior antennae simple ; body ovate.

Cyclops, Mill pyp^aO^n^rms Linn.

J 1 l (G. vulgaris, Leach.)

Superior antennae extremely long. Inferior very short.

Calanus, Leach Type, C. Finmarchianus , Mid.

Antenna? very short ; annuli gradually and moderately dimi-

nishing in breadth.

Annuli depressed ; body broad, flat. Eye distinctly double.

Sapphirina , Tliomps Type, S.fulgens, Tilesius.

Annuli subcylindric ; tail ending with two long setaceous

styles.

■.j . ,, f Type, C. minutus, Mul.

Neostatnes < A, . , ,• \

l (G. staphylvnus, JJesm.)

N. B. — Monoculus claviger and 71/. crassicornis require to be

further examined. I have never met with any thing like

them.

That Anomaloccra is a type of the genus Cyclops will appear at

once evident by comparing it with the characters which Jurine,

Latreille, and others, have assigned to that genus, as anciently

constituted, if we except the singular position of the eye, the

number of the segments of the body (in which latter particular it

however associates itself with C. rubens and C. minutus); and one

or two minor points. It has four antenna? ; the superior long,

setaceous, multiarticular, in the male with a swelling, confined

universally in this species to the right side. The inferior antenna

filiform, and ending with a dense pencil of hairs ; three sets of

oral appendages and feet in pairs, attached to the successive pos-

terior annuli of the body. The general form and the caudal

appendages serve still more to confirm its affinity. From this

species the genus Pontia, of M. Milne Edwards, leads to Ncbalia,

approaching the one by the cephalic development, and the other

by its general habit. From the description of the parts of the

mouth given by the same author of a species of Ncbalia, I must

imagine that considerable similarity can be traced between them

and those I have described in Anomalocera. lie however applies

theoretic considerations, and assigns to them names in their suc-

cessive order, on the propriety of which my knowledge of the

subject will not admit of my expressing an opinion.

120 Description of a new Irish Crustaceous Animal.

Zoeci appears to me to have its proper position near to this

genus, though apparently much wanting in the development of

particular parts. If we could imagine the obliteration of the pos-

terior segments of the body, or that the tail and anterior ring

were so brought together, as to drive the intermediate rings

under the anterior, and prevent every thing more than mere rudi-

mentary portions of these rings to be traced, and the swimming

feet alone with the other parts removed, we should then find re-

maining parts or modified parts analogous to those of Zoeci.

Thus, in the mouth, infinitely the most essential object for consi-

deration, we should find, in the first place, a labium common to

both, then three successive pairs of appendages performing ana-

logous offices. The first pair (internal mandibles of Jurine) oc-

cupy a similar position. The next in series marked in the deli-

neations of Zoea (fig. 8) unquestionably perform functions similar

to those marked (fig. 11, 12) in Anomalocera; and lastly, the

lobate body, adjoining the legs of Zoea, has its analogous part

in (fig. 18) Anomalocera, and lies horizontally appended by one

corner, which is a singular confirmation of the views I am now

taking. Fig. 14 of the Anomalocera may likewise be looked upon

as replaced by the anterior division of the leg of Zoea, so that

without any straining, an affinity between the animals may be

traced. The antennae and eyes present the greatest sources of

discrepancy, but not greater than is to be found in adjoining

tribes, and indeed it is observable that, as we descend from the

more highly organised species, greater diversities always occur in

analogous parts not essential to the absolute existence of the ani-

mal, the parts of manducation being almost the only parts which

preserve a constancy of character.

From an attentive consideration of the habits and forms of these

minute animals, I should be much inclined to remove the whole of

them from their present connection with the bivalve Lophyropoda,

and allot them a much higher station in the system, in fact, to a

position which is hinted at by Latreille, close adjoining Mysis of

Fabricius, and forming from it a diverging branch nearly on a

rank with Squilla, but not in the same series, for this latter is too

intimately connected with the adjoining tribes to admit of being

separated by these. I have just detected among those I brought

with me from Mauritius, a species* which forms the transition

from Squilla to the Amphipoda, and whose description I propose

to present to the Society as an appendix to the present paper.

* Zeuxo Westwood iana, Templeton.

Larvcc of the Hymenopterci.

121

XXII. On the Apod Larvce of the Hymenoptcra, with

reference to the segmental Theory of Annulose Animals.

By J. O. Westwood, F.L.S., fyc.

[Read April 6, 1835.]

It would doubtless be considered a startling assertion, were the

student to be informed that a larva is a more perfect animal than

its imago, and yet when we perceive in the former a series of

segments equally developed and exceeding in number the articu-

lations of the body of the latter, such is the conclusion which

might ordinarily, and at the first sight, be deduced therefrom.

The apparent loss of segments, which takes place during the

passage of insects in general to their final state, is one of great

interest, not only as a remarkable physiological fact, but also with

reference to the numerical distribution of segments in annidose

animals, whereupon depends the accurate determination of those

exceedingly difficult and subtle investigations, having for their

object the analogical relations existing between the oral and loco-

motive organs of the Crustacea, Arachnida, and Insecta. In like

manner the point at issue, between Mr. Mac Leay and Messrs.

Latreille and Audouin, relative to the true analogy of the terminal

segments of the thorax of the Hymenoptera, will receive much

elucidation by an examination of this question.

Let us shortly, in the first place, notice the views upon this

subject entertained by our greatest philosophical inquirers, La-

treille, Mac Leay, and Kirby. The first of these authors, in his

endeavours to resolve the various forms of all annulose animals to

one general type, considered in a memoir upon the external

organization of insects, that the body of an imago is composed of

thirteen segments, allowing one for the head, five for the thorax,

and seven for the abdomen, supposing that the wings are aeros-

tatic in their origin and structure, auxiliary to the legs, and bor-

rowed in part from the respiratory organs.

Mr. Mac Leay, in the Horce Entomologicce, adopted Latreille’s

ideas relative to the two segments which exist in the larva, but

disappear in the imago of some species, although his observations

thereupon show that his opinion was scarcely reconcileable thereto.

He says, “ If Latreille supposes that these two in the larvre of

Oryctcs are transferred to the abdomen of the imago, it is not true

in fact, since no more than seven can be found in the abdomen ;

nor would it, if true, coincide with his theory, making wings take

122

Mr. J. O. Westwood on the Apod

the place of deficient feet. The thoracic [prothoracic] segment of

Coleoptera is evidently the one bearing the first pair of feet. We

have next four pair of locomotive organs attached to that part of

the trunk commonly considered as consisting of only two segments.

Now for Latreille’s theory to stand, it is necessary to resolve these

two segments into four, which, although not yet effected, I confess

I think by no means improbable.” He then proceeds to show

that those segments which bear the true organs of locomotion

constitute the thorax, and adds, “ Those unacquainted with the

conformity of nature to certain general principles, will have great

difficulty to understand how the wing of an Hymenopterous insect

can be one of its feet; yet this is not so dissimilar as the fore-foot

of a quadruped and the wing of a bird often agreeing, almost to

the number of digiti.” ( Horce Entomologicce, p. 414.)

Messrs. Kirby and Spence partially adopted these views of

Latreille and Mac Leay, observing that Mr. Mac Leay’s opinion

seems to receive some confirmation from the circumstance that, in

the larva state, insects consist of two segments more than in the

imago; these follow the three pedigerous segments succeeding the

head; they have no prolegs, and are supposed to belong to the

thorax, rather than to the abdomen. To make this circumstance

bear upon the question, it must be proved that in the perfect state

these segments in some manner become the back of the trunk and

bear the wings. This would not be more wonderful than many

changes that are known to occur in insects. Here it will be seen

that these authors rely upon the certainly forcible circumstance that

the fifth and sixth segments of the body of those larvae which are

furnished with false legs, are destitute of those organs, although

instances misht be mentioned in which one at least of these seg-

ments bear legs, and although in the Crustacea the analogous

segments are provided with perfect legs.

Mr. Mac Leay however, in his recent memoir in the Zoological

Journal, has adopted the views of M. Audouin, considering that

the differences which have been pointed out in respect to the

number of segments in perfect insects, result more often from

imperfect study or unpractised examination on the part of the

person describing, than from any real anomaly in the animal

described, instancing in confirmation thereof his own observation

on the abdomen of the Oryctes, as mentioned in the Ilorce Entomo-

logicce. “ This truth,” he adds, “ will be evident to any Entomologist

who takes the trouble of comparing the perfect insect with the

pupa, and this again with the larva. Let any large beetle be taken,

for instance, one of the Dynastidce or Prionidce: at first sight it

123

Larva of the Hymenoptera.

seems to have no more than eleven segments* in the vertebral axis,

but on more accurate examination, and particularly on comparing

it with the pupa, we discover that in reality it has thirteen, that is,

the number of the larva. Every annulose animal may be resolved

into thirteen primary segments, which are thus disposed — one for

the head, three for the thorax, and nine for the abdomen. Let

us observe a P/iasma, where the female is apterous and the male

winged. In many females of this genus we may perceive the

rudiments of the wings, and consequently the inspection of a

female will point out to us the structure of the male, considering

this last as a perfect winged insect. Well, then, the female Phasma

shows nine abdominal segments, three thoracic, and a head. The

females of certain Blattce are apterous, and in the island of Cuba

there is a large species of this genus to be found, under stones in

woods, whose wings are formed, but so short and truncated as to

render their possessor incapable of flight. Such insects will also

prove a winged Blatta to be composed of the above-mentioned

thirteen segments. The same results are derived from the exa-

mination of the larva? and females of Drilus and Lampyris. It is

true that some of the abdominal segments become more or less

confluent in certain insects, particularly of the analogous orders,

Hyvienoptera and Diptera. But a little study of their structures

will point out the nature of such aberrations, and, I repeat, that

the above is the most correct mode of viewing an insect.”

We accordingly find, that in all the subsequently published

works upon the general principles of Entomology, these views of

Messrs. Audouin and Mac Leay have been adopted, but hitherto,

with the exception of the papers of Dr. Ratzeburg, to be subse-

quently noticed, no memoir upon this branch of the science has

been published ; and yet it is evident that it can only be by a

minute and careful examination and comparison of the develop-

ment of the different segments of the same insect, throughout its

various stages, that we can hope to arrive at a decisive confirma-

tion of these views.

It will be seen that Mr. Mac Leay brings forward, as instances

of full development, various female insects, the males of which

possess a less amply developed abdomen ; but in the order of

insects, to which I would more particularly request attention, at

* Here the unpractised Entomologist should be put upon his guard against the

incorrect ideas which he would gain upon this subject, from the figures given in

our two most recent works upon Comparative Anatomy; I allude to l)r. Roget’s

Bridgewater Treatise, and Dr. Grant’s Outlines of Comparative Anatomy, in which

a beetle is represented having tire nine abdominal segments equally developed.

124

Mr. J. O. Westwood on the Apod

least in one portion of it, we find the contrary to be the case, the

abdomen of the male possessing one more segment than the female,

whilst in my memoir upon the Organization of the Earwig, pub-

lished in these Transactions, I have shown that the male possesses

nine fully developed segments, exclusive both of the anus and the

caudal forceps, whilst two of these, namely, the penultimate and

the antepenultimate, are greatly reduced in size in the female.

Now in the apod larvae of numerous Hymenopterous insects,

which I have lately examined, I have invariably found the body

to be composed of fourteen segments, excluding a minute por-

tion often transversely separated from the terminal piece. These

segments appear to me to be thus constituted: 1st. A head

composed of a single segment, harder and firmer in consistence

than the following, being a nearly circular skull, having the

mouth composed of the ordinary manducatory pieces at its an-

terior inferior extremity ; then follows a segment destitute both

of legs and spiracles, which is succeeded by ten apod but spi-

raculiferous segments, and the body is terminated by two dis-

tinct and one (as mentioned before) indistinct segments, destitute

of spiracles. The first three of these segments appear to me to

constitute the part which will hereafter form the thorax of the

imago. This opinion being founded, 1st, upon the structure of

the foregoing segment, which comprises all the requisites of the

head of a larva: 2dly. Upon the undeniable fact, that in the larva

it is not necessary that thoracic segments should be provided with

spiracles; those of Cossas ligniperda and Melolontha vulgaris

having the second and third of the thoracic segments destitute of

these organs, although they are provided with legs ; and thirdly,

because we are thereby enabled clearly to trace the analogy be-

tween the number of segments of the abdomen of the larva of the

Hymenoptera, and the fully developed abdomen of the imago of

the male Forjicula. Moreover, as it cannot be doubted that the

legs of the larva represent the legs of the imago, so in like manner

the head of the larva corresponds with the head of the latter ; take,

for instance, a pedate Coleopterous larva, and compare it with an

apod one — the only difference is the want of legs, the segments

being identical; so, likewise, between a pedate Hymenopterous

larva, and an apod one.

The paper to which I have above alluded, by Dr. Ratzeburg, is

published in the sixteenth volume of the Nova Acta Naturae Curio-

sorum, and is illustrated by a series of figures representing the

gradual development of the Formica rufa, with additional figures of

the preparatory stages of Cynips, Ichneumon , Diplolepis, and Apis.

125

Larva of the Hyrnenoptera.

The evident insufficiency of some of these figures, is however to

be regretted. In the figures of the larvae of Formica and Apis, we

however find the body represented as composed of fourteen seg-

ments, although the position of the spiracles is not noticed. The

chief object, however, of Ratzeburg’s paper, is to point out the

distribution of the segments of the body in the larva, with refer-

ence to those of the imago. According to this author, the two

first segments become the head of the imago; the third, fourth

and fifth, the thorax; the sixth, the peduncle; and the seventh

and following, the abdomen. The arguments upon which this

view is supported, are founded chiefly upon the examination of

the larva of the Formica , immediately preceding its assuming the

pupa state, at which period it is evident that the external covering

of the larva must, from its membranous texture, have conformed

to the altered state of the already formed pupa beneath this en-

velop. Now the head of the pupa and of the imago is larger than

that of the larva, consequently it must, at this period of the in-

sect’s existence, occupy not only the head of the larva skin, but

also a portion of the next segment, hence we gain an idea of the

reason which induced Dr. Ratzeburg to account the head of the

imago as corresponding with the first two segments of the body

of the larva. And I may here observe, upon the incorrect ideas

which might be gained upon this part of the subject from the

figures of this author, that his fig. 9 a represents the first segment

of the larva, as occupied by the extremity of the antennas, but in

fig. 12 (being at a subsequent stage) there is nothing in the figure

to show, which however is evidently the case, that the first seg-

ment of the larva is now entirely empty, the head of the pupa

occupying the second segment of the larva.

If therefore we apply the principles, admitted to exist in other

groups of insects, to these apod larvae, we shall find that as the

head of the imago is at this period of existence so far pushed out

of its place as to occupy the first thoracic segment of the larva, it

will necessarily follow that the other true thoracic segments of the

imago will also be pushed one segment further backwards, with

l-eference to those of the larva, and hence that the sixth, instead

of the fifth segment of the larva, should cover the pedicle of the

abdomen of the imago, and consequently (the pedicle being proved,

by the gradual modification of form which it undergoes in differ-

ent groups, to be a portion of the abdomen), that the fifth segment

of the larva, as well as the following, should be abdominal.

It may be said that this mode of explanation cannot be correct,

because the anterior segments being pushed backwards, it would

126

Mr. J. O. Westwood on the Apod

follow that the terminal segment of the imago must be in like man-

ner pushed entirely out of the body of the larva; but this is not the

case, because in the imago some of the abdominal segments of

the larva have disappeared under the reduced form of organs of

generation.

I should certainly have hesitated in offering these observations

in opposition to the views of Dr. Ratzeburg, were we not enabled

thereby to trace out, most satisfactorily, the analogous cases

offered in the development of other groups of insects, and had

I not, by direct observation, ascertained their insufficiency.

Several years ago, I carefully watched the progress of transfor-

mation in the apod larvae of numerous Ichneumonidce, and noticed

that previous to assuming the pupa state, they had changed con-

siderably in form; several of the anterior segments assuming a

harder appearance, behind which the body was constricted; the

eyes of the future pupa, moreover, appeared through the skin of

the hinder part of the second segment. They generally remained

thirty-six hours under this form, previous to casting off the skin

of the larva. On examining some of these, however, which I

placed in spirits, I find that the tips of the antennae of the pupa

extend into the first segment of the larva ; that the head of the pupa

occupies a portion of the second segment of the larva ; that the first,

narrow, leg-bearing segment or prothorax of the pupa occupies the

remainder of the second and part of the third segment ; that the

second thoracic segment or mesothorax occupies the remainder of

the third and a small portion of the fourth segment; and that the

third thoracic segment or metathorax of the pupa occupies the

fourth segment of the larva, which is in fact its true analogue.

Our indefatigable member Mr. Shuckard has started an inge-

nious theory relative to the subject of the present observations,

referring to Dr. Ratzeburg’s figure of the larva of Apis meliifica,

which is represented with fourteen segments. He observes, in a

note appended to the 35th page of his Translation of Dr. Bur-

meister’s valuable Manual, “ Whether this arose from his having

figured the larva of the male of that insect, I do not know, for

the text does not elucidate it; but the accompanying figure

appears to be the pupa of the male, as it has seven segments to

the abdomen. I am not aware that it has been before observed,

that the larvae of the males of the aculeate Hymenoptera will

necessarily have an additional segment. Ratzeburg seems to take

great merit to himself for having discovered that the larva of the

Hymenoptera are headless, as he says, and seems to insinuate

a censure upon Swammerdam, Reaumur, De Geer, Kirby and

Larva of the Hymenoptera. 127

Spence, Latreille, &c. for not having noticed as much. It is

evident,” he adds, “ that these writers considered the tw-o first

segments as the head, and justly, for although as yet destitute of

the usual organs, they were in fact the head only requiring further

development.”

I would however observe, upon Mr. Shuckard’s statement that

the larvae of the males of the aculeate Hymenoptera will necessarily

have an additional segment, that there would be ample grounds

for its adoption, if the abdomen of the male bee consisted of ten

segments and that of the female of nine; but when we find that

the loss of certain segments has actually taken place in both sexes,

we cannot by any analogy trace a necessary equal loss in the

individuals of opposite sexes. It would be as correct to assert,

that the larvae of the female insects, mentioned by Mr. Mac Leay,

necessarily possessed more segments in the larva state than the

males. In all the apod larvae w'hich I have examined, I have

constantly found the same number of segments, viz. fourteen.*

Moreover, it is wTell known that sexual peculiarities (and the

loss of abdominal segments is one of the most striking) are not

developed in the larva state. And lastly, in the larva of the

Ichneumon, which I have already noticed, there are, as usual,

fourteen segments, although it is evident that the insect is a

female by the possession of the ovipositor, of which the rudiments

are distinctly visible through the skin of the larva.

I will merely add, that Swammerdam evidently considered the

first segment alone as the head, the first pair of spiracles being

represented as placed upon the third segment of the body ; and

that the justice of considering the two anterior segments of the

larva as forming together the head of the pupa, rests only upon

the authority of Dr. Ratzeburg, having by all previous authors

been regarded as representing not only the head, but also the first

or prothoracic segment of the perfect insect.

* Since this paper was read, I have reared both sexes of a species of Crabro,

from larvm precisely agreeing in this number of the segments.

128 The Rev. F. W. Hope’. 9 Descriptions

XXIII. Descriptions of some Species of Carabidae, collected

by Charles Darwin, Esq., in his late Voyage. By the

Dev. F. W. Hope, M.A., F.R.S., &c.

[Read May 1, 1837.]

Species 1. Carabus suturalis, Fab.

Aptevus; elytris striatis, viridibus ; sutura aurea. Long. lin. 8|;

lat. lin. 3J.

Habitat in Terra del Fuego. In Mus. Dom. Banks et C.

Darwin.

Statura Carabi aurati. Antennae fuscae, basi ferrugineae.

Caput viride, laeve, nitens, ore fusco. Thorax cordatus,

viridis, margine aureo. Elytra substriata, viridia, striis tribus

fere obsoletis punctorum convexorum ferrugineorum ; sutura

aurea, nitens. Pectus virescens. Abdomen atrum. Pedes

ferruginei, plantis nigris.

Obs. — This insect, although described by Fabricius, is appa-

rently unknown on the Continent. It is one of the most beautiful

of published species. When captured, it emitted (like all the

other species of Carabus from Terra del Feugo) a strong ammo-

niacal odour.

Species 2. Carabus ValdJivice.

Ater ; capite thoraceque viridibus ; elytris auratis, igne mican-

tibus, marginatis, crenato-sulcatis. Long. lin. 12; lat. lin. 4|.

Habitat in Valdivia. In Mus. Dom. Darwin.

Statura C. Chiloensis. Antennae fuscae ; articulis quatuor primis

piceis, reliquis pubescentibus. Caput viride; oculis promi-

nentibus, atris. Thorax cordatus, punctulatus, linea longi-

tudinali fortiter impressa marginibusque lateralibus aureis.

Scutellum nigrum. Elytra punctato-striata, sutura nigricanti,

in medio disci virescentia, marginibus externis auratis, igne

micantibus. Corpus subtus piceum.

Obs. — Found in the Cordilleras of Valdivia.

Species 3. Carabus Chiloensis, Eschscholtz. Zool. Atlas.

Ater; capite thoraceque viridibus ; elytris striato-punctatis, aureis

et marginatis. Long. lin. 10; lat. lin. 3|.

Habitat in Chiloe. In Museo Dom. Darwin.

Praecedenti affinis at minor. Antennae quatuor articulis primis

piceis, reliquis pubescentibus. Caput viride. Thorax sub-

129

of some Species of Carabidce.

cordatus, airo-viridis, quasi vermibus erosus, linea media

longitudinali sub lente parum distincta, marginibus elevatis,

subviridi-auratis. Elytra striata, punctatissima ; sutura ele-

vata nigricanti, apice subabbreviata, punctisque oblongis tri-

plici serie elevatis, interstitiis subrugosis. Corpus subtus

atrum, pedibus concoloribus.

Species 4. Carabus insularis.

Niger; pedibus concoloribus, antennis basi piceis. Long. lin. 10;

lat. lin. 3|.

Habitat in Chiloe sub putridis arboribus. In Museo Dom.

Darwin.

Statura Carabi suturcilis, Fab. Fere totum corpus supra

nigrum ; pedibus concoloribus. Antennse quatuor primis

articulis piceis, reliquis pubescentibus. Caput nigro-viride.

Thorax erosus, lateribus elevatis. Elytra striato-punctata,

nigra ; sutura elevata nitida, subtiliter punctulata.

Obs. — It is probable that this species may be a variety of the

foregoing. In sculpture, however, it differs in many points ; both

males and females vary in colour. The most characteristic varie-

ties were found in different localities, beneath decayed logs of

wood, in the small islet behind Chiloe.

Species 5. Carabus Darninii.

Cyaneus ; elytris striatis, thorace elytrisque aureo-marginatis ;

corpore subtus nigro-cyaneo. Long. lin. 11 ; lat. lin. 3|.

Habitat in Chiloe. In Museo Dom. Darwin.

Antennae fuscee, quatuor primis articulis piceis, reliquis pubes-

centibus. Caput cyaneo-viride. Thorax punctulatus, longi-

tudinali linea fortiter impressa, lateribus auratis. Elytra

punctato-striata, cyanea, punctis obsoletis impressis, triplici

serie ordinatis; marginibus auratis, splendidis. Corpus infra

nigro-cyaneum ; pedibus nigricantibus, tibiis intermediis

auricomis.

Obs. — This beautiful insect I have named in honour of my friend

Charles Darwin, Esq., a zealous Entomologist. Flis exertions in

advancing the progress of Zoology in general entitle him to the

thanks of the scientific world.

Species 6. Calosoma Patagoniense.

Cupreo-ameum, nitidum ; thorace elytrisque viridi-marginatis;

130

The Rev. F. W. Hope’s Descriptions

punctis subelevatis, triplici serie dispositis. Long. lin. 12| ;

lat. lin. 5.

Habitat in Patagonia. In Museo Dom. Darwin.

Antennae quatuor articulis primis atris, reliquis fusco-pubescen-

tibus. Corpus infra nigrum nitidum, supra bronzeum. Caput

inter oculos sparse punctulatum. Thorax utrinque fortiter

impressus,lateribus punctulatis, disco laeviori. Elytra elevato-

striata, ternis striis parum elevatis, interstitiis viridi-punctatis,

punctisque oblongis laevibus. Margo lateralis viridi-aeneus.

Pedes tibiis intermediis incurvis, reliquis rectis.

Obs. — This insect is evidently allied to Calosoma laterale,

Kirby : it is however distinct, and is larger than any belonging to

this section. The posterior part of the elytra are more dilated

than in any other species ; the deeply impressed thorax, and the

sculpture generally, separate it from any hitherto described spe-

cies of Calosoma. It was captured by Mr. Chas. Darwin, in the

northern districts of Patagonia.

Species 7. Calosoma Galapageium.

Atrum ; antennis basi pedibusque rufo-piceis. Long. lin. 7 ;

lat. lin. 3.

Habitat in insulis Galapageis. In Museo Dom. Darwin.

Atrum, laeve, nitidum ; elytris substriatis, punctisque elevatis

triplici serie dispositis. Antennas quatuor primis articulis

rufo-piceis, reliquis fusco-pubescentibus. Thorax laevis,

postice fossula utrinque fortiter impressa. Elytra obsolete

striata, tribus lineis punctorum elevatorum convexorum ;

marginibus subviolaceis. Corpus subtus atrum ; pedibus

rufo-piceis, tibiis intermediis incurvis.

Obs. — Captured in the central part of one of the Islands of the

Galapagos Archipelago.

Species 8. Calosoma Helence.

Atrum ; elytrorum margine aeneo ; antennis basi piceis, pedibusque

nigris. Long. lin. 8; lat. lin. 3g.

Habitat in insula Sanctae Helenas. In Mus. Dom. Darwin.

Atrum; elytris striatis margine aeneo, punctisque excavatis

triplici serie dispositis. Antennae quatuor primis articulis

piceis, reliquis fusco-pubescentibus. Corpus supra et infra

nigrum. Thorax transverse ovatus, marginatus. Elytra

striata, subrugosa ; marginibus externis subvirescentibus,

131

of some Species of Car abides.

punctisque excavatis triplici serie ordinatis. Pedes nigri,

tibiis intermediis incurvis.

Obs. — This is one of the smallest species of Calosoma which

has fallen under my notice : it wras captured in the higher and

central parts of the Island of St. Helena, by C. Darwin, Esq.

XXIV. Descriptions of some of the Insects brought to this

country by C. Darwin , Esq. By G. R. Waterhouse,

Esq. Curator to the Zoological Society of London.

[Read January 2, 1837.]

The species here described belong to the old genus Haltica and

its subgenera, and are all from Australia.

Species 1. Haltica crassicornis.

H. ovata, aenea vel viridis ; pedibus, abdominis apice, antennisque

ad basin testaceis ; capite leviter punctato ; thorace punctu-

latissimo, foveis longitudinalibus duabus ad basin ; elytris

punctato-striatis, interstitiis subpunctatis ; antennis brevibus,

articulis 5 apicalibus nigris, crassioribus.

Long. corp. lin.

Habitat near Sydney.

Obs. — The antennae in this species are shorter than is usually

observed in insects of this genus : the basal joint is rather long

and thick; the second is shorter and thicker than the third: from

hence to the apex, the joints gradually increase in width ; the last

five joints are sensibly incrassated. The antennae of the females

appear to be less thick than those of the males. In form and

general appearance this Haltica closely resembles some of the

species of the genus Macronema, but the structure of the antennae

and hinder tibiae (which are not elongated beyond the base of the

tarsus) prevents its being associated w'ith that group. It is about

the size of Macronema Napi, but of a broader form. I have

examined eleven specimens of this species.

Species 2. II. nitida.

H. ovata, lata, aeneo-viridis ; pedibus abdominisque apice tes-

taceis ; antennis testaceis, brevibus, articulis 5 apicalibus

crassioribus ; corpore supra levi ; elytris baud striatis.

Long. corp. U lin.

Habitat King George’s Sound.

VOL. II.

L

132

Mr. G. R. Waterhouse’s Descriptions

Obs.— This species is evidently allied to the last described,

having the same short antennae, with the terminal joints incras-

sated ; the hinder tibiae also, as in H. crassicornis, are curved

downwards. It is remarkable for its short and almost perfectly

oval form, and its great glossiness. To the naked eye it appears

to be devoid of sculpturing, but with the assistance of a tolerably

powerful lens we perceive that the head, thorax and elytra are

very delicately punctured.

Species 3. H. substriata.

II. longe ovata, testacea; antennis brevibus, capite et thorace

impunctatis, hoc fovea transversa leviter impresso, prope

basin ; elytris vix punctato-striatis ; femoribus posticis lon-

gioribus, corpore subtus piceo.

Long. corp. lin.

Habitat King George’s Sound.

o o

Obs. — This species, like the preceding, would appear at first

sight to belong to the genus Macronema. The antennae are mo-

derately thick at the apex.

Species 4. II. acuminata.

H. longe ovata, ochracea, corpore supra laevi ; elytris versus

apicem acuminatis ; capite, thorace, suturaque fulvo tinctis ;

corpore subtus, femoribusque posticis fulvis.

Long. corp. 1| lin.

Llabitat King George’s Sound.

Obs. — This species is very closely allied to the preceding : it

may, however, be distinguished by the fulvous tint of the body

beneath, its different form, and its smooth upper surface, there

being no traces of striae on the elytra ; there is a very faint trans-

verse impression on the posterior part of the thorax.

Species 5. H. bicolor.

H. ovata, nitide aeneo-viridis ; thorace, capite anteriore, anten-

narumque basi, testaceis ; corpore subtus, pedibusque nigris ;

tibiis tarsisque piceo-testaceis ; antennis mediocribus ; thorace

linea transversali, foveisque duabus longitudinalibus, postice

impresso ; elytris punctato-striatis.

Long. corp. lin.

Habitat near Sydney.

133

of some Species of Haltica.

Species 6. H. ovata.

H. ovata, brevis, lasvis, testacea; oculis nigris; corpore subtus,

femoribusque posticis fulvis ; sutura nigrescenti ; thorace

nonnunquam fulvo.

Long. corp. 1-1- lin.

Habitat near King George’s Sound.

Species 7. II. variegata.

H. testaceus, fusco-variegatus ; abdomine piceo ; thorace brevi,

punctulatissimo, sulco transverso foveisque duabus distinctis;

elytris punctato-striatis.

Long. corp. 1 lin.

Habitat Van Diemen’s Land.

Obs. — From the remarkable colouring of this species, I at first

doubted its being a Haltica. The three specimens which I have

examined vary a little in colour. The head is brown ; the thorax

is of a chestnut brown hue ; the elytra are yellowish, with the

suture and outer margin brown : there are likewise two clouded

spots at the base, and an interrupted band in the middle, which

extends to the outer margin on each side, but not to the suture.

Species 8. H. labialis.

H. ovata, testacea, ore nigro, sutura fuscescente ; thorace levi-

ter punctato ; lined transversd foveisque duabus, in parte

posteriore ; elytris punctato-striatis, interstitiis laevibus.

Long. corp. § lin.

Habitat near Sydney.

Obs. — Less than Haltica nemorum.

Species 9. H. jiicea.

H. picea ; thorace impunctato, in parte posteriore lined trans-

versd profunde impresso, et foveas duas exhibente ; elytris

punctato-striatis ; pedum quatuor anticorum tibiis antenna-

rumque basi, piceo-testaceis.

Long. corp. ^ lin.

Habitat King George’s Sound.

Obs. — Less than the last species.

Species 10. II. bivittata.

H. sub-ovata, nigra ; elytris strigd flavida longitudinali.

Long. corp. -J lin.

Habitat near King George’s Sound.

Obs. — This species very closely resembles II. nemorum , but is

l 2

134 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse’s Descriptions

of a smaller size and shorter form ; the thorax is more thickly

punctured, and the antennas and legs are totally black.

When I first saw this insect, I imagined that it was identical

with our turnip fly, and that it had probably been introduced into

Australia with turnip seeds, &c. ; but upon comparing several

specimens, brought over by Mr. Darwin, with our species, I found

they invariably differed as above mentioned.

The species next described has but ten joints to the antennas,

and the apex of the posterior tibiae is prolonged beyond the base

of the tarsus : in fact it possesses the characters of the sub-genus

Macronema (^Megerle).

Species 1. (11.) Macronema scutellata.

M. caerulea, sub-ovata et lata ; thorace elytris angustiori ;

antennarum articulis tribus basalibus testaceis; corpore subtus

nigro ; tibiis tarsisque brunneis ; scutello aeneo ; capite im-

punctato ; thorace punctato ; elytris punctato-striatis, inter-

stitiis laevibus.

Long. corp. 1| — 1 1 lin.

Habitat near Sydney.

Obs. — This species is rather less than the Macronema napi ; it

is of a shorter and broader form, and the thorax is narrower in

proportion to the elytra.

The remaining species here described belong to Latreille’s sub-

genus Dibolia. They depart from the more typical Halticce in

having the head placed vertically, nearly hidden by the thorax,

very broad (generally equal in width to the thorax) ; the thorax

and elytra being nearly of equal width, and of a somewhat cylin-

drical form ; and in having the tibiae furnished with a tooth-like

process in the middle externally. The antennae are very slender ;

they somewhat resemble the Eumolpi.

Species 1. (12.) Dibolia cenea.

D. aenea vel aeneo-viridis, subtus nigra ; pedibus, palpis anten-

nisque testaceis, femoribus fuscescentibus ; capite fere tho-

racem latitudine aequante, et punctulatissimo ; thorace postice

latiori, punctulatissimo ; elytris profunde punctato-striatis ;

interstitiis laevibus.

Long. corp. 1 lin.

Habitat near Sydney.

Obs. — This species is about the size of Dibolia Cynoglossi.

of some Species of Haltica. 135

Species 2. (13.) D. ceneo-mgra.

D. aeneo-nigra, subtiis nigra; antennis ad basin, tibiis tarsisque

testaceo-piceis ; capite thoracem latitudine asquante, leviter

punctulatissimo ; tborace punctato ; elytris punctato-striatis,

interstitiis laevibus.

Long. corp. 1 lin.

Habitat near King George’s Sound.

Obs. — This species is the same size as the last ; the head is

broader, and its form more nearly approaches to cylindric.

Species 3. (14.) D. pygmeea.

D. aeneo-viridis ; antennis tarsisque testaceis ; tibiis fusco-

testaceis ; capite vix thoracem latitudine aequante, impunc-

tato ; tborace punctulatissimo ; elytris punctato-striatis.

Long. corp. \ lin.

Habitat near King George’s Sound.

Obs. — This is a very minute species, scarcely more than half

the size of H. nemorum.

Species 4. (15.) Dibolia ochracea.

D. ochracea, supra aeneo-lavata ; capite thorace angustiori, hoc

punctulatissimo ; elytris punctato-striatis.

Long. corp. £ lin.

Habitat King George’s Sound.

Obs. — This species is nearly as large as D. Cynoglossi : the

aeneous tint is indistinct.

Species 5. (16.) D. subcenea.

D. ochracea, aeneo-tincta ; capite thoraceque aeneo-fuscis, fe-

moribus posticis corporeque subtiis fuscis ; capite et thorace

punctulatissimis ; elytris punctato-striatis, interstitiis sub-

punctatis.

Long. corp. 1| lin.

Habitat King George’s Sound.

Obs. — This species somewhat resembles the last in colour : it

may, however, be easily distinguished from either of the foregoing

by its large size. The sculpturing of the upper parts is more

delicate than in D. ochracea. The head, thorax and ely tra are of

nearly equal width.

136

Dr. Pallas’s Observations

XXV. Observations on the Habits of the Purple Emperor

(Apatura Iris). By the late P. S. Pallas, M. Z).#

[Read December 5th, 1836.]

I found the caterpillar of the purple emperor ( Papilio Iris,

Linnaeus,) in the year 1755. It was climbing up the trunk

of the willow-tree, from whence it had been disturbed by a storm

of wind ; full grown as it was, it began, the second day I found

it, to prepare for its change, refusing to take any more nourish-

ment. I was very agreeably surprised some time afterwards to

see the purple emperor come out of the chrysalis ; and the more

so, because the changes of this fly had not been recorded by any

author I knew, which may be chiefly owing to its scarceness in

most places.

I had taken a drawing of the caterpillar and its chrysalis, but

I was desirous to see all the changes and to observe the manner

of it from its very birth to its state of perfection, as I had done

with many others before, having planted, for that purpose, the

most common trees of my country in a little garden in pots for

the better observing them.

I could not doubt of this caterpillar’s feeding upon the leaves

of the willow, upon which stem I had found it, since the fly is no

where to be found in plenty but about willow plantations, and but

seldom about oak-trees. Therefore, to obtain a sufficient number

of the eggs of this butterfly, 1 caught, the following year, as many

as I could get, in the willow plantations which cover the high-

ways about Berlin, where, about the middle of June, this fly is

annually seen in great numbers, gathering in flocks about the

gums that issue out of the stems of willow-trees, which it loves

extremely fas also several other flies and the rose-beetles do).

I learned soon to distinguish the sexes of them, which you may

do at the first sight, and even whilst they are fluttering in the air,

for the female never shows that bright purplish gloss which dis-

guishes the wings of the male at a certain position. I do not find

this remark in any of the authors that have mentioned this fly,

not even the ingenious Rosel. Mr. Ray describes only the fe-

male. Rosel and Wilkes have figured only the male.

There are two varieties of both sexes, one with white, the other

* These observations were communicated to Mr. Baker, F. R. S., and by him

presented to the Aurelian Society. They remained however unpublished, and

came into my hands with other entomological manuscripts of the late Mr. Drury*

— J.O. W.

137

on the Habits of the Purple Emperor.

with yellow-spotted wings, and I never found them promiscuously

coupled together ; but always a yellow-spotted male coupling

with a yellow-spotted female, &c., which, by the bye, generally is

in the evening ; this is the property of many butterflies (with the

fore-feet imperfect) to couple in the evening. For though you

see them playing together in the air all day long, they never

couple till the approach of night and rest gives them leisure.

They cohere great part of the night, and 1 have often found them

coupled still in the morning. This hath made Mr. Rosel believe

that this family of butterflies which fly in the day, couple only in

flying over one another, as some sort of doves used to do.

The way by which I used to get the eggs of these flies (which

every one who has taken some pains in observing insects well

knows to be very difficult) was to include them in a narrow dark

vessel, with some leaves or branches of the plant I could probably

guess to be the food of these caterpillars, without giving much air

to the vessel, and, if the flies were too brisk, cutting their wings.

In this way, I never failed to obtain eggs from any sort of flies, if

there were any impregnated females among my prisoners. The

purple emperor scatters its eggs, which are of a curious and ele-

gant shape, up and down the leaves of the highest branches of the

willow and oak, as I afterwards observed. They are always fixed

with their flat bottom to the leaf, not that they acquire this figure

by the flat surface they lie upon, for they are hardened before the

fly discharges them, but as the eggs of many other flies and moths,

being formed so in the womb, and fixed in this manner by the

parent. The eggs of the purple emperor, while they are in the

womb, are of a dark green colour, which they never change, being

taken out unfecundated ; but when laid by an impregnated fe-

male, they have a bright greenish yellow cast, and, in short, ac-

quire a black or rather dark brown circle around the top, which

is the place where afterwards the head of the caterpillar is formed

and seen through the transparent shell. This is also the circle

which the caterpillar, in forcing its passage, breaks, lifting up the

top of the egg like a trap-door.

The caterpillar, when it is first hatched, is of the same yellow

colour with the egg, and in a very lean state in proportion to its

dark brown head, which is roundish, and of the usual shape ob-

servable in most caterpillars. Its first food is the empty whitish

and transparent egg-shell, which some consume to the very

bottom. But as soon as it is put upon a young leaf of the sallow

willow, it climbs to the tip of it along the upper side of the rib,

spinning all along the way, (though 1 could not imagine how so

138

Dr. Pallas’s Observations

lean a body could afford silk sufficient to line its way) ; when it

comes to the extremity of the leaf, it begins to gnaw the edge of

the leaf at a little distance from the top ; after the repast it retires

to the very tip of the leaf, where it resides upon the rib on the

upper side, with the head directed towards the stem of the leaf,

resting itself with the fore-claws loosened and applied close to the

body. This fashion the creature observes all the following time

of its life. It gnaws the leaf on both sides to the bare rib, leaving

the tip untouched, which it covers with a thick white web, to fix

its claws in when it rests. When a leaf is consumed, it resorts to

the next downwards. It feeds covering all its way with silk, and

by these means, tying the leaf, which it takes possession of, to the

branch.

The yellow colour which they have when first hatched soon

changes, as it seems by an effect of their food, to a pleasing green,

a little whitish on the underside, and with the same roughness of

skin and yellowish oblique lines on the back, which are observed

in the full grown ones.

When the period of slitting off their first skin approaches, the

first joint of the body swells behind the head to a considerable,

yet low, tumour ; they disengage themselves by casting off the old

scull, and slipping off the skin like a serpent ; and now there ap-

pears a head quite different in shape to what it had before, and

such as we observe in the full-grown caterpillars. The horns on

both sides round the body are a semicircular form, and occasion

the forementioned tumours. As soon as the head is freed from

the old skin, the horns begin to stretch and to rise to an erected

situation, and, from short appendages, grow to slender and long

horns, forked at the tip in the same manner as we see the wings

of a butterfly. In some minutes the head has acquired its colour

and solidity, and the new-born caterpillar turns itself to devour

its cast-off skin, after which it returns to its usual food.

The second casting of the skin is attended with the same cir-

cumstances ; the horns of the new scull are convolved in the very

same manner, and stretched, after being disengaged. At the se-

cond renovation the figure of the horns is different from what it

had been before ; they are shorter and not forked at the extremity.

By this time the season grows cold, and the willow begins to

lose its leaves, but those that were occupied by these little insects

had their stalks thus fortified and tied with silk that they could not

fall, but shrivelled up and dried. My little caterpillars, thus desti-

tute of food, disposed themselves here and there on the underside

of the branches, where they covered a little space with a carpet

1.39

on the Habits of the Purple Emperor.

of silk to fix their claws in ; they grew torpid, and changed their

bright green colour, first to a very dark, afterwards to a dusty,

and at last a yellowish brown colour, pale on the underside, and

in this state seldom were seen to stir, except in mild weather.

I do not know whether it was the dryness and closeness of the

place, where my willow-tree was kept in a pot, which was a sum-

mer-house without windows, or what other circumstance, that oc-

casioned the loss of the brood, but they grew evidently leaner and

weaker, and dried upon their places before the spring could re-

fresh them. As I went soon after on my travels, I had no oppor-

tunity of making a second trial to bring others up. But I believe

the rest of their history may be safely supplied by supposing

that they do not change their behaviour, and that they slip off

their skin twice more as most caterpillars do.

This I must mention however, that my caterpillars, after chang-

ing their skin a second time, seemed too small to me to equal the

bulk of the full-grown one I had seen before, by twice casting

their skins. But this might be also the consequence of the dry-

ness of the place they were kept in, and where they were deprived

of the morning dew, which I endeavoured to supply by sprinklino-

water over them with a brush. I am the more apt to believe this

because several other sorts of caterpillars brought up under the

same consequences [circumstances] came but to a very incon-

siderable size, and afforded me the smallest moths of the kind I

ever saw.

There is another property of the purple emperor caterpillars

which it will seem ridiculous to mention, but as I often and con-

stantly saw them do it, I would not neglect relating any of the

singularities of this insect. The excremental masses of these

little animals seem to be of so tenaceous a substance, that they do

not fall off as soon as they are excreted. Therefore, at every ex-

cretion the caterpillar, bending its body, takes the excrement with

its foremost feet, and then, lifting it as high as possible, causes it

to fall beyond the tip of the leaf.

These are all the remarks I made upon the caterpillar of the

purple emperor, which has given me no small diversion in my

leisure hours, which I applied wholly to the observing various in-

sects. The drawings which I made of the several changes I have

not now at hand, but some of the dried eggs and caterpillars I

lately found among a few insects, which I thought worth taking

along with me when I left Berlin, and which I left with some cu-

rious in Holland.

140 Mr. G. R. Gray’s Synopsis of the Species

You will be so kind as to excuse the faults of this account as

set up by a foreigner little skilled in the use of the language, and

who endeavoured to make it as intelligible as he could.

XXVI. Synopsis of the Species belonging to the Genus

Castnia. By George Robert Gray, Esq. M.E.S.

[Read February 2, 1835.]

(Plate XIII.)

Although tw7o monographs of the Fabrician genus Castnia have

appeared, I am induced to draw up the following synopsis of spe-

cies to obviate the great confusion that exists between them,

as the same species of insect has often been described under two

distinct names by the respective authors.

The monograph by Dalman (1825) contains eighteen species,

twro of which are new, and two species (published by Cramer) not

noticed by Godart and Latreille, whose monograph appeared in

the ninth volume of the “ Encyclopedic Methodique” (1819).

The latter is also composed of eighteen species, but five of them

were new to science, and two of the species, previously published,

were not noticed by Dalman. To these I have added all the

newly described species from various works, and have subjoined

several new species, which are in the superb Lepidopterous col-

lection of Mrs. Children.

The insects of this genus are particularly “ confined to the tro-

pical region of America.” Mr. Swainson tells us, “ that they fly

only during the meridian heat, and then with incredible rapidity :

they frequent the inlets of the thick forests, occasionally resting,

far above the ground, on the trunks of trees.”

Their metamorphoses unfortunately are at present enveloped in

doubt, though Madam Merian has given what she considered

figures of the larva and chrysalis of Castnia licus. The larva

bears great similarity to that of Sphinx vespertilio, while the chry-

salis is represented, fixed by its tail, in the manner of those of

Morpho and other diurnal butterflies.

The antennae of these insects are shorter than the body ;

strongly clubbed near the apex, with the latter somewhat hooked,

which is sometimes formed by a series of long narrow scales,

giving them much the appearance of the antennae of Hesperia;.

belonging to the Genus Castnia. 14*1

The palpi in some are long, in others reaching half way to-

wards the base of the antennae ; the first joint is always short and

thick ; the second always the longest, and of equal thickness

throughout ; the third is always very short, with the apex mucro-

nate. These joints are more or less covered with scales.

The head is broad, sometimes broader in the male than in the

female, with large and prominent eyes : it is also furnished with

three distinct ocelli.

The body is large, somewhat pointed, thickly covered with pro-

minent scales, and generally ending with a brush of longer ones.

The wings vary in form and also in the disposition of the ner-

vures ; the discoidal cell of the lower wing appears to be open,

except that a very slender nervure proceeds a short distance from

the base, and diverges to each side, forming two small cells, whilst

in Castnia Nicon the discoidal cell is open, but a slender nervure

proceeds from the base, and is attached only to one side, and thus

forming a cell. These insects, like all others which deflex

their wings when in a state of repose, are furnished with wing-

guide or guides, for they vary in number as to species. They

proceed from the main nerve of the lower wing, and are received

into a socket placed on the upper nerve of the discoidal cell of

the anterior pair. The socket is covered with scales, so as to be

scarcely visible.

The species of this genus may be divided into the following

sections : —

I. Those with the palpi very long, closely applied to the head,

and covered with short scales. The fore-wings are subtriangular,

thickly clothed with scales, with the exterior margin straight, or

slightly rounded ; the lower wing beneath with one guide. — C.

Cyparissias, Licus, Evalthe, Fonscolombei, pi. xiii, fig. 1, &c.

II. Those with the fore-wings elongate-triangular; the hind-

wings are expanded, with the posterior margin somewhat trun-

cate.— C. Ardalus, Palatinus.

III. Those with the palpi short, reaching halfway towards the

base of the antennae, and covered with long scales ; the fore-wings

covered with small scales, with the exterior margin rounded.

The outer margin of all prominently fringed with long scales. —

C. Hubneri, pi. xiii. fig. 2.

IV. Those with the wings covered with minute scales, partly

diaphanous ; the fore- pair with the exterior margin rounded,

similar also in the hind-pair, with three wing-guides. — C. Cochrus,

Linus , and Acrceoides.

V. Those with the antennae similar to the others, but the

142 Mr. G. R. Gray’s Synopsis of the Species

hook at the apex is formed of large scales. The head of the

male is very broad, as the eyes are much larger than in the fe-

male. All the wings have the outer margin rounded with a narrow

fringe of small scales, and with four wing-guides. The sexes differ

much in colour. — C. Nicon, pi. xiii. fig. 3. — Thais.

Species 1. C. Cyparissias, Latr. et Godart.

Alis atris, nitidis, fasciis duabus albis, anticarum repandis, pos-

ticarum macularibus. Al. exp. 7" — 7", 6"'.

Pap. Dcedalus, Cram. f. 1, f. A. B.

Pap. Cyparissias, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. p. 39, no. 415 ; Herbst.

f. 118, f. 1, 2 ; Shaw’s Misc. pi. 574.

Le P. Dcedalus, Ency. Meth. Ins. pi. 12, f, 1.

Castnia Dcedalus, Dalm. Mong. Cast. p. 7.

Castnia Cyparissias, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 797.

Eupalamides Dcedalus, Hubn. Cat. 1068.

Habitat in Surinamo.

Species 2. C. Latreillei, Godart.

Alis anticis fusco-olivaceis, maculis obscurioribus fasciaque ob-

liqua sordide alb& ; posticis nigris, punctis intra-margina-

libus cserulescentibus. Al. exp. 5" S'".

Castnia Latreillei, Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. ; Spix, An. Art.

pi. 30, f. 7.

Castnia Actor, Dalm. Mong. Cast. 8, pi. 1, f. 1.

Eupalamides Ctesiphon, Hubn. Sc. Ex. 11, pi.

Habitat in Brasilia.

Species 3. C. Atymnus, Dalm.

Alis nigris, fascia obliqud alb&, anticarum angusta, posticarum

dilatata, margine immaculatis ; antennarum apice, abdomine,

corporeque subtus albidis. Al. exp. 4 '.

Castnia Atymnus, Dalm. Monog. Cast. 12.

Castnia Spixii, Perty. Spix. An. Art. pi. 30, f. 2.

Habitat in Brasilia. In Coll. Dominae Childrens.

Species 4. C. Pylades, Latr. et Godart.

Alis atris, nitidis ; anticis fasciis duabus repandis, supra albidis,

subtus rufescentibus ; posticis fascia marginali utrinque fulvo

nigroque maculatd. Al. exp. 5" 6".

Pap. Pylades, Cram. f. 387, f. A. B. ; Herbs, f. 135, f. 1, 2 ;

Shaw’s Misc. pi. 895. (nec Pap. Pylades, Fabr.)

Le P. Pylade, Ency. Meth. Ins. pi. 12, f. 2.

143

belonging to the Genus Castnia.

Caslnia Py lades, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 797 ; Dalm.

Mong. Cast. p. 9.

Corybantes Pylades, Hubn. Cat. 1066.

Habitat in (India, Cr.)

Species 5. C. Liens, Latr. et Godart.

Alis atris, nitidis ; anticis sesquifascia albd ; posticis unied re-

panda alba, serie marginali e maculis rubris ; posticarum pa-

gind inferiori cinerea. Al. exp. 4".

Pap. Licus, Cram. f. 223, f. A. B. ; Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. p. 45,

no. 137 ; Herbst. Ins. f. 134, f. 3, 4 ; Drury’s Ins. i. pi. 16, f. 1,

2 ; Merian’s Sur. Ins. f. 36.

Le P. Liens, Ency. Meth. Ins. f. 12, f. 4,

Caslnia Licits, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 797 ; Dalm.

Monog. Cast.

Corybantes Licus, Hubn. Cat. 1064 ; Hubn. Sell. Ex. 1, pi.

Habitat in Demerara. In coll. D. Childrenae. Mus. Brit.

Species 6. C. Harmodius, Dalm.

Alis nigris ; anticis fascia obliqua strigaque interrupt^, supra

flavis, subtus albis ; posticis fascia intramarginali ferrugined

ante angulum analem subin terrupta. Al. exp. 4".

Pap. Harmodius, Cram. f. 223, f. C. D.

Pap. Syphax, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. p. 45, no. 135, Gm. ; Herbst.

Ins. f. 134, f. 1, 2.

Le P. Pirrha, Ency. Meth. Ins. pi. 16, f. 2.

Castnia Harmodius, Dalm. Monog. Cast. 11.

Castnia Licus, var. Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix.

Corybantes Syphax, Hubn. Cat. 1065.

Habitat in Surinamo. In coll. Mus. Brit.

Species 7. C. Evalthe, Latr. et Godart.

Alis nigris, nitidis ; anticis fasciis dudbus, posticis unied, flavis ;

posticis supra serie e maculis marginalibus, subtus pagina

omni, rubris. Al. exp. 3''.

Pap. Dardanus, Cram. f. 17, f. E. F.

Pap. Evalthe, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. p. 45, no. 136 ; Herbst. Ins.

f. 137, f. 1, 2 ; Donov. Ins. of India, pi. 22.

Castnia Evalthe, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 798 ; Dalm.

Monog. Cast. 13.

Corybantes Dardanus, Hubn. Cat. 1062.

Habitat in Surinamo, Brasilia. In coll. Mus. Brit.

144 Mr. G. R. Gray’s Synop)sis of the Species

Species 8. C. Euphrosyne, Perty.

Alis fusco-nigris, nitidis, anticis sesquifascia, posticis macula

magna, flavis ; his macularum aurantiacarum serie ad mar-

ginem posticum. (Perty.) Al. exp. 2" 8"'.

Castnia Euphrosyne , Perty. Spix. An. Art. pi. 30, f. 1.

Habitat in Brasilid.

Species 9. C. Icarus , Latr. et Godart.

Alis fuscis, nitidis, fasciis tribus albis ; posticis rubris, strigis

duabus undulatis limboque nigris. Al. exp. 3g" — 4".

Fap. Icarus, Cram. f. 18, f. A. B. ; Shaw’s Misc. pi. 692.

Le P. Icare, Ency. Meth. Ins. pi. 12, f. 3.

Castnia Icarus, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 798 ; Dalm.

Monog. Castn. 10.

Corybantes Icarus, Hubn. Cat. 1063 ; Hubn. Sc. Ex. 1, pi.

Habitat in Surinamo.

Species 10. C. Fabricii, Swains.

2. “Alis anticis ferrugineis, fascia obscura sinuosd, et macula

discoidali ; posticis pallide testaceis, fasciis tribus interruptis

crenatis nigris, serie e maculis juxta marginem ovatis, nigris.”

(Swains.) Al. exp. 5" 3"'.

Castnia Fabricii, Swains. Zool. 111. iii. f. 149; (nec Latr. et

Godart. Ency. Meth.); Thon’s Ent. Arch. 1829, 123 b.

Red wing day moth, Sw.

Habitat in Brasilia. (Diamond District.)

Species 11. C. Zerynthia, G. R. Gray.

Alis anticis fusco-olivaceis, nitidis, fascia bifida sordide alba,

apice punctis albo-hyalinis ; posticis nigris, basi fusco-oli-

vaceis, fascia media latd alba, margine nigro, striga maculis-

que flavis. Al. exp. £ 4" Q"'. $ 6".

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 12. C. Fonscolombei, Latr. et Godart.

Alis anticis supra ferrugineis, nitidis ; femince disco punctis

quinque hyalino-flavescentibus ; posticis flavo-testaceis, serie

postica e maculis nigris. Al. exp. 4§".

Castnia Fonscolombe , Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 799.

Athis Jdpyx, Hubn. Sc. Ex. 11, pi.

Habitat in Brasilid. In coll. D. Childrenae.

145

belonging to the Genus Castnia.

Species 13. C. Dalmannii, G. R. Gray.

All's anticis ferrugineis, mans fasciis duabus obsoletis ; femince

olivaceis fascia albd angusta, et punctis byalinis duobus ;

posticis rubris, basi, strigis maculisque juxta marginem, ni-

gris ; marts disco flavo, et femince albo.

Al. exp. £ 3b'. $> 4".

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 14. C. Eudesmia, G. R. Gray.

Alis griseo-fuscis, fimbria alba ; anticis fasciis obliquis duabus

albis; posticis nigris, caeruleo-nitidis, basi fasciisque macula-

ribus duabus rubris, maculis pupillis albis, margine posteriore

griseo-fusco. Al. exp. 4" T".

Habitat in Chili. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 15. C. Amycus, Latr. et Godart.

Alis nigris, nitidis ; anticis utrinque fascia punctoque albis ;

posticis supra fasciis duabus, subtus pagind omni rubris.

Al. exp. 2”.

Pap. Amycus, Cram. f. 227, f. D. E.

Castnia Amycus, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 798; Dalm.

Monog. Cast. 19.

Corybanles Amycus, Hubn. Cat. 1061.

Habitat in Surinamo, Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 16. C. Mygdon, Dalm.

Alis fuscis, anticis fasciis obscurioribus et pallidioribus indeter-

minatis ; posticis fasciis duabus intramarginalibus e maculis,

marts albis, femince luteis. Al. exp. 3".

Castnia Mygdon, Dalm. Monog. Castn. 20, pi. 1, f. 4.

Castnia Phaleris, Latr. & Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 799, (nec

Fabricius.)

Synpalamides Minion, Hubn. Sc. Ex. 11, pi.

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 17. C. Phalaris, Dalm.

Alis fuscis, immaculatis ; posticis strigis duabus macularibus

albis. Al. exp. — .

Pap. Phalaris, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. i. 45, no. 138.

Castnia Phalaris, Dalm. Monog. Castn. 22; Donov. Nat. Misc.

2. 47. 1.

Habitat (ignotus).

146

Mr. G. R. Gray’s Synopsis of the Species

Species 18. C. decussata, Latr. et Godart.

Alis fusco-viridibus, nitidis ; anticis fasciis duabus albis decus-

satis; posticis unicd maculari. Al. exp. 2^".

Castnia decussata, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 799;

Hubn. Sc. Ex. iii. pi., f. 639, 640.

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Children*.

Species 19. C. Hubneri , Boisd.

Alis anticis brunneis, fasciis macularibus duabus albis ; posticis

nigrescentibus basi rufescentibus, fascia maculari media

albida, alteri juxta marginem. Al. exp. 2".

Castnia Hubneri, Boisd. Cuv. Reg. An. iii. 439, pi. 20, f. 2.

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrens.

Species 20. C. Pelasgus, Latr. et Godart.

Alis atris ; anticis virescentibus fascia fulva ; posticis nigris,

immaculatis. Al. exp. 2' 6 ".

Pap. Pelasgus, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. p. 46, no. 139; Cram. Ins.

f. 202, f. D ; Herbst. Ins. f. 136, f. 6.

Le P. Pelascus, Ency. Meth. Ins. pi. 12, f. 5.

Castnia Pelasgus, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 801; Dalm.

Monog. Castn. 21.

Castnius Pelasgus, Hubn. Cat. 1076.

Habitat in Surinamo.

Species 21. C. Cronis, Latr. et Godart.

Alis concoloribus, anticis nigris plagd discoidali maculisque

marginalibus albis ; posticis abdomineque flavis ; thorace

nigro, puncto humerali sanguineo. Al. exp. 3".

Pap. Cronis, Cram. Ins. f. 178, A.

Castnia Cronis, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 801 ; Dalm.

Monog. Castn. 23.

Hcemonides Cronis, Hubn. Cat. 1069.

Habitat in Surinamo. In coll. D. Loddiges.

Obs. — Mr. Bowerbank has kindly shown me the specimen taken

in Messrs. Loddiges’s nursery, which I consider a female. It

differs from Cramer’s figure, in the base, spots on the thorax and

marks on the head being white. Beneath the hinder wings, the

inner and marginal bands are black ; these bands are connected

by means of narrow bands running along the nervures, thus form-

ing cells somewhat like those on the upper surface. The expanse

of wings is 3J inches from tip to tip.

147

belonging to the Genus Castnia.

Species 22. C. Ardalus, Dalm.

Alis anticis olivaceo-fuscis, fascia obliqua sinuosa maculaque

griseis ; posticis nigris, fascia media punctisque intramargi-

nalibus albis, fasciaque intermedia rubra maculari.

Al. exp. o'.

Castnia Ardalus , Dalm. Monog. Castn. 17.

Castnia Pallasia, Escli. in Kotz. Iter. iii. 27, pi. vi. f. 27 ?

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 23. C. Brecourtii , Latr. et Godart.

Alis atris, nitidis; anticis fascia difformi albida; posticis fasciis

duabus transversis albis intermediaque miniacea.

Al. exp. 3".

Castnia Brecourt, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth, ix. 798.

Habitat in Brasilia.

Probably the same as the preceding.

Species 24. C. Palatinus, Latr. et Godart.

Alis anticis ferrugineis, nitidis, puncto ocellari nigro ; posticis

nigris, fascia media strigaque apice maculari albido-flavescen-

tibus. Al. exp. 3" 6'".

Pap. Palatinus, Cram. Ins. f. 159, B. C.

Castnia Palatinus, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 799 ; Dalm.

Monog. Castn. IS.

Athis Palatinus, Hubn. Cat. 1067.

Habitat in Surinamo et Demerara. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 25. C. Cochrus, Latr. et Godart.

Alis concoloribus atris, nitidis, omnium disco fascia abbreviata

alba, abdomine postice cingulis sanguineis albo-marginatis.

Al. exp. 4' 6".

Pap. Cochrus, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. p. 42, no. 125 ; Donov. Nat.

Repos, v. pi. 150.

Castnia Maris, Dalm. Monog. Castn. 16.

Castnia Cochrus, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 798.

Prometheus Casmilus, Hubn. Sc. Ex. ii, pi.

Llabitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 26. C. Linus, Dalm.

Alis concoloribus nigris, maculis flavo-hyalinis, corpore subtus

albo, supra nigro. abdominis basi et antennarum apice, flavis.

Al. exp. 3" 3"'.

VOL. II.

M

148 Mr. G. R. Gray’s Synopsis of the Species

Pap. Linus, Cram. Ins. f. 257, A; Herbst. Ins. f. 78, f. 4.

Castnia Linus, Dalm. Monog. Castn. 24.

Cabirus Linus, Hubn. Cat. 1072.

Habitat in Surinamo et Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrens.

Species 27. C. Acrceoides, Boisd.

Alis anticis nigrofuscis, strigis inter nervos nigris, basi et disco

obscure flavis ; posticis rubris, nervis margineque nigris,

ultimo maculis parvis albis. Al. exp. 2" 6" .

Castnia Acrceoides, Boisduval in Guer. Icon. pi. 83, f. 4 ;

Griff. An. Kingd. pi. 53, f.4 ; Boisd. Hist. Nat. des Ins. p. Lepid.

Planch, pi. 14, f. 1.

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Species 28. C. Nicon, G. R. Gray.

$ Alis anticis brunneis violescenti-nitidis, fasciis duabus sub-

ferrugineis ; posticis nigris violescenti et caerulescenti-nitidis,

apicibus maculis fasciaque aureo-testaceis.

Al. exp. 3" 5 ".

? Alis anticis carneo-grisescentibus viridi-nitidis, fasciis duabus

ferrugineis ; posticis testaceis, fasciis duabus margineque

crenato nigris ; subtus fascia in medio maculari transversa

obscura, ocellis albis. Al. exp. 3" 3"'.

$. j. Corybantes Nicon, Hubn. Sc. Ex. 11, pi.

$ . Castnia Thalaria, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix. 800,

(nec Thais, Drury.)

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Obs. — The number of ocellated spots of the under surface of

the hinder wings vary in specimens from two or more. In some,

however, they are entirely wanted.

Species 29. C. Marcel Serresi, Latr. et Godart.

$. alis fuscis, nitidis, fasciis obsoletis carneo-grisescentibus,

anticarum tribus continuis, posticarum duabus macularibus.

Al. exp. 2" 3'".

$ alis carneo-grisescentibus fasciis obsoletis ; posticis testaceis,

fasciis duabus margineque crenato nigris ; subtus pallid ior-

ibus, fasciis macularibus duabus obscuris, macula in medio

alba. Al. exp. 2" 9'".

$. Castnia Marcel Serres, Latr. et Godart. Ency. Meth. ix.

800 ; Hubn. Sc. Ex. iii. pi. f. 711, 712.

$. Pap. Thais, Drury’s Ins. iii. f. 16, f. 4.

149

belonging to the Genus Castnia.

Castnia Fabricii, Latr. et Godart, Ency. Meth. ix. 800 ; (nec

Swainson, Illustr.)

Habitat in Brasilia. In coll. D. Childrenae.

Obs. — To this genus was added, by Dalman, the Pap. Erycinia,

Cr. pi. 177, f. 9, but with doubt as to its being properly placed.

Godart refers it to the genus Pieris ; he is followed in the same

idea by Boisduval : I have therefore adopted the notions of the

two last-named authors, and have not included it.

There is also a species of this genus described in Thon’s

Archiv., vol. ii., under the name of C. Kirstenii, the description

of which I am unable to add, as I have not met with the above

work.

XXVII. Notice sur le Male de rEpomidiopteron Julii.

Par M. de Romand, ( de Tours, Chev. de Leg. d’Hon-

neur, Sfc.)

[Read 4th September, 1837.]

Je dois a Mr. Shuckard, un des membres distingues de votre

honorable Societe, d’avoir ete mis sur la voie de l’insecte hyme-

noptere que je vais avoir l’honneur de vous soumettre, et qui

existe an British Museum. Cet insecte me paroit le $ de celui

dont j’ai fait la description dans les Annales de la Societe Entomo-

logique de France, (1835, p. 653,) sous la denomination d 'Epo~

midiopteron Julii. Ce rapprochement me fait desirer d’en donner

communication, et je prend la liberie de le presenter aux Trans-

actions de votre Societe, comme un de ses sujets.

Le caractere principal, qui m’a determine a etablir ce genre, se

retrouve entierement dans l’insecte dont je joins le dessin. Je

veux dire, une ecaille longue et large qui recouvre, de chaque

cote, l’insertion des deux ailes. Le port et l’ensemble de l’insecte le

rendent identique avec V Epomidiopteron Julii, sauf les differences

que le sexe exige.

Le corselet et l’abdomen du $ sont conformes comme ceux de

la $ , et sont a peu pres ornes des memes taches blanches, avec

cette difference, que les 2 taches intermediaires, qui existent sur

l’abdomen de la ? , sont plus grandes ; et que ces taches sont au

150 M. de Romand on the Epomidiopteron Julii.

nombre de 4 sur F abdomen du $ , lorsqu’il y en a 6 sur celui

de la 2 . La conformation des pattes anterieures est absolument

pareille dans les deux insectes, et cbaque jambe est egalement

armee, vers les ^ de sa partie interieure, d’un onglet recourbe,

long et pointu. Les ongles, qui terminent les tarses des pattes

posterieures, sont aussi bidentes, et ont la meme conformation.

Le systeme alaire olfre des differences qui se remarquent

generalement dans les insectes hymenopteres de cette famille, et

distinguent tres souvent le sexe. Ainsi dans la 2) la nervure de la

cellule radiale est si peu marquee a son extremite, quelle semble

une trace legere, lorsque dans le $ cette meme nervure n’a pas

la meme defectuosite. D’un autre cote, dans le $, la nervure

qui separe la 2e cellule cubitale de la lere, est a peine commencee,

et la 2e cellule discoidale (suivant Mr. Shuckard, dont je cite avec

une grande satisfaction le travail sur le systeme alaire) se termine

dans la 2 par une nervure appendiculee, qui ne continue pas.

L’insecte est tout noir, le corselet et l’abdomen sont ornes de

taches blanc de lait, et pointilles tres finement. Ailes noir-bleues,

avec des teintes orangees.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XIV.

Fig. 1. Insecte de grandeur nelle. 2. Tete grossie. 3. Corselet grossi. 3 a,

Eeaille large et longue, recouvrant les 2 ailes. 4. Aile grossie. 5. Antenne

grossie. 6. Patte anterieure grossie. 6. Onglet recourbe. 7. Patte poste-

rieure grossie. 8. Deux derniers articles des tarses termines par deux onglets

bidentes.

Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Description, &c.

151

XXVIII. Description of a new Genus of Dipterous Insects

from New South Wales. By J. O. Westwood, F. L. S.

[Read February 1, 1836.]

Triciiopsidea, Westw.

Genus novum e familia Anthracidarum , N emestrinas cum Colace

Wiedemanni conjungens.

Corpus parvum, hirsutum.

Caput transversum, oculis magnis lateralibus in uno sexu in

verticem conjunctis, spatio parvo elevato, pro ocellis, postice

relicto ; fronte triangulari, valde piloso, pilis proboscidem

omnino tegentibus. Ocelli 3 parvi in triangulum dispositi.

Antennce minutse distantes, faciei medio ad marginem inter-

num oculorum insertae ; 3-articulatae ; articulo lmo brevi,

cylindrico ; 2do parvo, globoso ; 3tio pyriformi in setam

versus apicem paullo crassiorem producto.

Os rudimentale, labro elongato-conico, corneo ; labio paullo

longiori, apice ovato, concavo ; palpis ? e filamentis duobus

elongatis membranaceis, constantibus.

Thorax subcpiadratus, valde pilosus ; scutello transverso, in-

ermi.

Abdomen ovatum, convexum.

Pedes graciles, tarsorum articulo lmo longiori ; 2do, 3tio, et

4to minutis, pulvillis tribus.

Aloe corporis toti longitudine, patentes, nervis fere ut in Ne-

mestrina fasciala clispositis ; nervo 3tio apicali simplici, 4to

intus furcato.

This is a curious genus, having in several respects a consider-

able external resemblance to the CEstridce, a circumstance more

especially observable in the covering of hair with which the face

is entirely covered, concealing the rudimental mouth, which is

furnished laterally with two long membranous fillets like strips

of parchment, which I presume are analogous to palpi. There is

also a horny upper lip, and a dark coloured body, which I pre-

sume is the analogue of the terminal lobes of the proboscis.

It is distinct from all the sub-genera of Nemestrina lately pro-

posed by me in the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine,

in which the elongated proboscis is distinct. The neuration of the

wings is also more simple.

VOL. II.

N

152 Rev. Leonard Jenyns’s Description of the

From Wiedemann’s genus Colax it is distinct in the possession

of ocelli, rudimental mouth, and nervures of the wing. I agree,

however, with Latrielle in thinking, that notwithstanding the ab-

sence of a proboscis, the last-mentioned genus is referable to the

Anthracidce rather than the (E sir idee ; the nerves of its wings

being evidently disposed upon the same type as in Nemestrina.

I am acquainted with but one species of this new genus.

Trichopsidea cestracea , Westvv.

Obscure nigra ; thorace, facie, marginibusque segmentorum

abdominalium fulvo-pilosis ; pedibus rufescentibus, femoribus

ad basin obscuris ; alis hyalinis, costa obscuriori nervisque

costalibus crassioribus.

Long. corp. lin. 4|. Expans, alarum lin. 10.

Habitat in Nova Hollandia. In Musaeo nostro.

Tab. XIV. fig. 9. Trichopsidea cestracea, and details. 9 a. Front of head.

9 b. Head sideways. 9 c. Antenna. 9 rf. Trophi. 9 e. Wing. 9 f. Hind

leg.

XXIX. Notice of a Case in which the Larva of a Dipterous

Insect, supposed to he the Anthomyia Canicularis, Meig.,

were expelled in large quantities from the human intestines ;

accompanied by a Description of the same. By the Rev.

Leonard Jenyns, M.A., F.L.S., 8fc.

[Read 5th June, 1837.]

I am indebted to Dr. Haviland, of Cambridge, for the knowledge

of a case which occurred lately in his practice as a physician in

the neighbourhood of that town, in which large quantities of the

larvae of some insect were expelled from the human intestines.

Conceiving that the circumstance may afford interest to the mem-

bers of the Entomological Society, as also that it is of importance

to science to record every authentic case of this nature, I have

obtained the following particulars, which, together with a descrip-

tion of the larvae in question, I beg leave to bring under their

attention.

The patient was a clergyman, about seventy years of age. The

symptoms of which he complained previously to the first appear-

ance of the above larvae were — general weakness, loss of appetite,

and a disagreeable sensation about the epigastrium, which he de-

scribed as a tremulous motion. These symptoms commenced in

153

Larva of a Dipterous Insect.

the spring of 1836, and it was not till the summer and autumn

of that year that the larvae were observed in the motions. They

then passed off in very large quantities on different occasions, the

discharge continuing at intervals for several months. According

to the patient’s own statement, the chamber-vessel was sometimes

half full of these animals ; at other times they were mixed with

the stools. He thinks that altogether the quantity evacuated

must have amounted to several quarts. The larvae were all

nearly of equal size, and, when first passed, quite alive, moving

with great activity. The patient is not aware of having voided

any thing of the kind before. Since the discharge ceased, his

health has improved, but it is by no means perfectly re-esta-

blished ; and he is fully impressed with the belief that at the

present time (March, 1837) more larvae are still in the stomach

and intestines.

Immediately on examining the above larvae, specimens of which

were procured by Dr. Haviland, and submitted to my inspection, I

formed the opinion that they were those of some dipterous insect ;

and, from their possessing branchial-like appendages, that the

species was one which, during its first state, was, if not decidedly

aquatic, at least an inhabitant of moist places. This opinion was

afterwards confirmed by Mr. Hope, to whom I exhibited the spe-

cimens when in London last February. The same gentleman drew

my attention to a case already recorded by Dr. Bateman,* in

which, judging from his annexed figures more than from his slight

and evidently inaccurate description, there was reason to believe

the very same larvae had been observed under similar circum-

stances. In fact, Dr. Bateman mentions two instances : one, in

which a considerable number were ejected from the stomach of a

labouring man at Norwich ; another, in which they were found

intermixed with the alvine discharge of a patient, who believed

them to have been evacuated from his bowels, although the sur-

geon who attended him was doubtful whether they might not have

been generated in the water-closet. Those obtained in the former

of these instances, and which, as in the case now before us, were

alive and moving for some time after they had been discharged,

were considered by Dr. Bateman (on the authority of Mr. Bracy

Clark) as the larvae of the Musca domestica minor of De Geer.j'

which is synonymous with the Musca stercoraria of Swammerdam,

by whom the larva is figured, under the name of Vermiculus latri-

* Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journ. vol. vii. p. 41.

t Hist, des Ins. tom. vi. p. 26. 5. Dr. Bateman states, however, that De Geer

lias figured both the fly and its larva, which I do not find to be the case.

N

154 Rev. Leonard Jenyns’s Description of the

narum .* Of the correctness of this opinion, and moreover of the

identity of my own specimens with those figured by Swammerdam,

I have but little doubt. Whether Meigen is right in referring De

Geer’s species to the Masca canicularis of Linnaeus, •j' the Antho-

myia canicularis of his own work, J I leave to be determined by

others. I shall however annex an accurate description of the

larvae in my possession, which will afford the best means of lead-

ing hereafter to the detection of the particular species, which in

the present instance at least became an inmate of the human in-

testines. And even supposing this point to be determined, it may

still be valuable from the circumstance of that great variety of

structure which appears to prevail in the larvas of the Diptera,

and the increased interest taken at the present day in the first

stage of metamorphosis of insects in general.

Length, 4-g lines; greatest breadth, line; colour, uniform

ochreous yellow ; general form, oval, considerably elongated an-

teriorly, much depressed, especially the head and thorax, which

are nearly flat ; body, composed of twelve membranaceous seg-

ments, of which, however, only eleven are obvious.

First apparent segment of a somewhat indeterminate shape,

square, approaching triangular, the sides not being exactly paral-

lel, and its width least at the extremity, which is bounded by a

straight line. No antennae or eyes ; but in the middle of each

side a projecting coronet of minute air tubes, arranged in a semi-

circular form, which might easily be mistaken for the latter. §

In front is a simple opening, showing externally, in its quiescent

state, only a pair of minute appendages resembling palpi ; within,

however, it is furnished with a protractile process, being the head,

terminating in a pair of horny bristles, representing the mandibles.

This process is distinctly visible through the integuments, appear-

ing as a black streak, and is probably capable of being exserted

considerably beyond the mouth.

Second segment in form resembling the first, excepting that the

sides, which are anteriorly inclined to each other, as in that seg-

ment, alter their direction about the middle of their course, and

become parallel. The length and greatest breadth of this segment

* Bibl. Sat. tab. 38, figs. 3 and 4.

t Syst. Nat. (edit. 12), tom. i. p. 992, 80.

| Zweijhig. Ins. v. p. 143. [Bouche ( Naturgesch. der Insect, p. 89, pi. vi. fig. 3,)

has figured the larva of Anthomyia ( Homalomyia ) canicularis of Meigen, and his

figures, making allowance for their acknowledged rudeness, evidently represent

these larvae. — J. O. W.]

$ Evidently considered as such by Dr. Bateman, who appears also to have

regarded the first pair of branchial-like appendages as antennas.

155

Larvae of a Dipterous Insect.

are nearly equal. Third similar to the second, but its greatest

breadth nearly double its length. Fourth and succeeding segments

also similar, but with their lateral margins more rounded, and their

transverse diameters continually increasing to the seventh, then

again diminishing. Eleventh, or terminal segment, viewed dor-

sally, of a somewhat semicircular form, its posterior margin being

curved in a very regular manner. But on the ventral surface of

the abdomen this segment is much less developed, and of a differ-

ent form, being similar to the one preceding it, only smaller ;

behind it, also, is the anus, the lips of which appear to arise from

the doubling of another rudimentary segment, representing the

twelfth, and thus making up the typical number.

The first two segments of the body are much depressed, and

bounded at the sides by a sharp edge common to both their dor-

sal and ventral surfaces. The remaining segments, which are

thicker and more elevated, have the lateral margins of their two

surfaces separated by an intermediate space of a softer texture,

occupying the sides of the abdomen.

All the segments, excepting the first, are furnished with

appendages apparently analogous to branchiae. In the second

segment there is but one of these appendages on each side, but

in that of the third, and succeeding ones to the tenth, there are

two, the upper one being attached to the dorsal, the lower one to

the ventral, surface of the segment. The eleventh, or terminal

segment, is set with six of these appendages, all arising however

from the dorsal surface, and arranged semicircularly in one plane

round the extremity of the body. These pseudo-branchial ap-

pendages become more developed, and more fringed with ramifi-

cations, as they approach the posterior extremity ; the first pair,

or those attached to the second segment, being nearly simple, or

appearing as if clothed only with a fine pubescence.

The above segments are also furnished dorsally each with a

pair of minute soft processes fringed with bristles, which, when

viewed in the aggregate, form a double longitudinal series down

the back. On the eleventh, or terminal segment, their place is

taken by two stouter, somewhat corneous papillae, of a cylindric

form at bottom, but conical upwards, the apex being perforated

with three orifices. These last are evidently air-tubes, which ap-

pear to be connected by internal trachae with those on the sides of

the head already spoken of.

There is also a double longitudinal row of still more minute

processes on the ventral portion of the body, a pair occupying

each of the same segments above alluded to, but placed more la-

156 Rev. Leonard Jenyns’s Description , &pc.

terally, or further from each other, than those on the dorsal sur-

face. These perhaps represent the prolegs of other larvae.

It would be a matter of great interest, as well as importance, to

ascertain by what means the larvae above described were intro-

duced into the human body. I regret, however, my inability to

throw much light on this inquiry. It is observable that the

symptoms of which the patient complained first showed them-

selves in the spring of the year, which is the season in which,

under ordinary circumstances, the larvae would be hatched. The

larvae were not voided till the summer and autumn following,

when they appear to have been nearly, if not quite, full-grown.

Hence it would seem probable that they were conveyed into the

stomach in the egg state, and that after being hatched, they passed

thence into the intestines, where they would have no difficulty in

finding subsistence, if, as De Geer states, they reside naturally,

during this period of their existence, in the ordure of privies. Dr.

Bateman seems to have been of opinion, that, in the cases recorded

by him, the larvae were taken into the stomach with the water

drunk, or otherwise used by the patient. But I think it question-

able whether they are likely to occur in water, which was not

largely mixed up with either decayed animal or vegetable matter,

and which, from the presence of such impurities, would be scarcely

used for the purpose above-mentioned.

I found, also, on making inquiries, that in the case under con-

sideration, the patient, who has lived in his present house for

many years, has never drunk water unmixed, but generally beer,

tea, and such beverages. At the same time it was added, that

the water used is entirely supplied from a pond on a stiff clay.

How far the above particulars will enable others to arrive at

any probable explanation of this occurrence is perhaps doubtful.

But when combined with the circumstances under which parallel

cases may be hereafter noticed, they may possibly lead to some

conclusion of practical utility towards checking so unpleasant a

source of disorder in the human frame.

Plate XV. Fig. 1. The larva above described of the natural size. Fig. 2. The

same seen from above, and magnified. Fig. 3. The same seen from beneath.

Fig. 4. One of the branchial-like appendages. Fig. 5. One of the supposed

antennaj. Fig. 6. One of the dorsal tubercles. Fig. 7. One of the spiracu-

liferous tubercles of the last segment seen laterally. Fig. 8. The same, seen

from above. Fig. 9. One of the ventral tubercles.

Mr. J. O. Westwood on the Genus Upis.

157

XXX. Observations upon the Economy of a South /Jmeri-

can Species of the Coleopterous Genus Upis, with a few

Remarks upon Carpophagous Insects in general. By J. O.

Westwood, F.L.S.

[Read 7th March, 1836.]

At the February meeting of this Society, the Rev. F. W. Hope

exhibited a large seed from the banks of the river Amazon, the

interior of which had been consumed, but was still occupied, by a

Coleopterous insect belonging to the genus Upis. This gentleman

having had the kindness to place the subject in my hands with a

view to bring it before the Society in a more detailed manner at

a future meeting, I beg leave to offer the following account of it

to the members, premising that it was necessary, in order to arrive

at the most satisfactory method of attempting the investigation, to

examine into the modes of proceeding adopted by other fruit-

devouring insects, — a short summary of which will form a useful

and not uninteresting introduction to the more immediate object

of the present communication.

Of all our insect enemies none are more annoying than those

which attack fruit and grain in its ripened state. To say nothing

of that minor misery of human life, the cracking of nuts, or the

biting of fruit, and having the mouth fdled with a quantity of

powder-like matter, which we know to be nothing else than the

excrement of an insect which is at the same time, in all probability,

writhing beneath our teeth, there is nothing more discouraging

than to find that, after the careful watching of the flowering sea-

son and the setting of the fruit, the latter, even after attaining its

full growth, is rendered unfit for use by the presence of some of

these tormenting objects. Here they grow to their full size with-

out their presence being even suspected, and the consequence is,

that the harvest of the fruiterer is often rendered abortive at the

very moment when he was looking for the gathering of his crop.

But even here wfe find a beautiful connection of cause and effect.

These insects, in their early state, are so tender in their constitu-

tion, that unless protected from the action of the air or the heat of

the sun by such a covering as is afforded by the substance of

fruits, they w'ould inevitably perish ; indeed it is impossible not at

once to perceive that these very insects have been destined by an

All -wise Creator to be participators with ourselves of the rich re-

pasts of the fruit garden. Some fruit, as apples, pears, &c. arrive

158 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Observations on the

at maturity before the rest of the same description of fruits, and

fall to the ground, having yielded not to over ripeness, but to the

internal attacks of these small destructives. Some fruits, however,

appear to be free from their attacks, — grapes are not attacked in

their bunches, and Reaumur tells us that the common almonds are

free from them. This author states that the eggs of fruit-devour-

ing Lepidopterous insects are placed by the females upon the fruit,

although sometimes they are so small and young, that the petals

of the flower have not yet fallen, and that even sometimes they

are deposited in the midst of the petals and the pistil. The grubs,

which are soon afterwards hatched from these eggs, thus find

themselves at their birth placed upon a tender fruit, into which

they immediately burrow without difficulty, where they then find

themselves in the midst of food which they love, and are also

completely hidden from view. The entry which they thus make in

the fruit closes so completely, that it is difficult, or indeed impos-

sible, to discover the little passage by which they have gained

admission. With this explanation as to the mode of introduction

of insects within the interior of the fruit, Reaumur has given us

the history of various species of insects detrimental to the fruiterer

or seedsman, including that of a large Lepidopterous caterpillar

found in the pod of Haricot beans, a species of butterfly apparently

belonging to the genus Tliecla, the larva of which is found in the

pod of the bladder nut; that of Bruchus granarius, Tinea hordei,

Tephritis cerasi, Torlrix pomonana, &c. From these inquiries,

M. Reaumur considers that the caterpillars of these frugivorous

species do not quit the fruit until they are prepared to become

chrysalides, and that when they quit their abode, it is not with a

view of again returning there. Moreover, one insect alone is

found in each fruit, unless it happens that two distinct species of

larvae are found in the same fruit ; hence he concludes that the

female has the instinct to deposit only a single egg in each fruit,

and hence that each female has the means of ascertaining in some

mode or other whether the fruit has already been visited either

by herself, or by another female of the same species. This is a

curious circumstance, when we consider that the size of some

fruits is such that one would be sufficient to supply a whole colony

of small larvae. And he repeats more than once his opinion, that

notwithstanding the hardness of their coverings, these fruits are

pierced by the insect at a time when they are still tender. In his

last observation, however, he adds, that the fruit is pierced “ soit

par la mere de l’insecte, soit par l’insecte naissant.”

From these observations it is however evident, that as to the mode

159

Coleopterous Genus Upis.

in which the fruit is pierced, and whether this be done by the parent

insect or not was entirely conjectural, no distinct fact was adduced

beyond that of the actual piercing of the fruit, as indicated by a

small cicatrix.

A more direct observation is, however, made by Messrs. Kirby

and Spence relative to the Rhynchites Bacchus (upon the authority

of Trost, Kleiner Beytrage, 58), which is said to bore with its ros-

trum through the half-grown fruit of the cherry into the soft stone,

and there deposits an egg. The peach of North America is said

to be similarly attacked by a weevil, and the proceedings of the

nut weevil are asserted to be also similar. This proceeding, which

at first sight appears altogether so unnatural, when we reflect upon

the beautiful construction of the ovipositor of insects, has been

fully confirmed by Kollar and Schmidberger. In endeavouring,

moreover, to discover the mode in which the entrance of the insect

into the fruit is effected, I consider that much more notice than

has hitherto been given should be paid to the nature of the fruits

attacked, namely, whether it be a soft fleshy fruit, defended only

by a thin rind, or a nut-like fruit, encased in a hard shell. Thus,

for instance, in the case of the nut weevil, it is evident from the

great voracity of newly hatched larvae, that if we adopt Reaumur’s

opinion, that it is the newly hatched grub which makes its way

through the still tender shell of the nut, it w'ould follow that the

supply of food would be very quickly consumed ; but if we con-

sider that it is the parent insect which with her ovipositor deposits

the egg in the substance of the nut, but which does not

hatch for some time afterwards, we shall be able to account for

the fact, that the kernel of the nut is sometimes not half consumed.

Again, in the apple grubs, we find the pips in the centre of the

apple are first devoured ; they are in fact the genuine food of the

newly hatched larvae ; but how came the larvae into the centre of

the apple ? the moth not having an ovipositor of sufficient length to

reach the core. But also here if we consider that it is the parent in-

sect which with her ovipositor deposits the egg in the substance

of the apple whilst very tender and young, and that the eggs are

not hatched until the apple has attained a considerable size, we

shall be enabled without difficulty to arrive at a solution of our

question. But, it will be asked, can the egg be carried along with

the development of the apple, and be found at a later period in the

centre of the fruit, perhaps an inch and a half distant from the

spot where it was actually deposited ? I see no difficulty in this

question ; as the eggs of the gall-flies are carried forward with

the development of the gall to an equal distance. And thus we

160 Mr. J. O. Westwood’,? Observations on the

may account for the birth of the caterpillar of a minute and deli-

cate moth, within the stone of a peach or a cherry.

Offering, therefore, this solution as to the discovery of grubs in

the heart of any large fruit, I may now notice the circumstance,

that the Bruchus granarius is stated to deposit an egg on every

pea in a pod, which the grub, when hatched, destroys ; this again

appears to me to be an assumption unsupported by direct obser-

vation, or reconcileable with what occurs in other instances ; — that

more than one grub may be found in a pod of peas is unquestion-

able, but it appears to me to be much more probable that they

should have been produced from eggs deposited by separate beetles,

or that, if deposited by a single insect, they should have been de-

posited in one spot, rather than the female should have bored

through the pod at regular distances, according to the situation of

the grains.

Some of the species of flags, Iris pseudacorus and fcetidissima,

the seeds of which are contained in a large pod, are attacked by

the Mononychus pseudacori, a small weevil ; and in some of the

pods which I collected in the Isle of Wight, several larvse were

found, which did not quit the pod to descend to the ground in

order to undergo their transformations, but arrived at the perfect

state within the pod, — thus affording an exception to Reaumur’s

statement, that these fruit insects quit the fruit to pass their trans-

formations under ground.

I have mentioned these various particulars, because they were

essential to our endeavours to learn the natural history of the in-

sect exhibited at the last meeting.

The nut or shell in which this insect was inclosed was exceed-

ingly hard, and it was not without the greatest difficulty that I was

able to split it open with a penknife. It was If inch in length ;

the shell was about 1-1 Gth of an inch in thickness, and near the

extremity, at the upper end, was a hole about l-4th of an inch in

diameter, through which the antenna of the inclosed beetle was

protruded ; near this hole, on the opposite side of the shell, was

another small hole about 1-1 0th of an inch in diameter, and through

these holes a small piece of string had been passed. Repre-

sentations of the nut in different positions are given in Plate

XIV. Figs. 11, 12, 13, and 14. On inquiry, I learn from Pro-

fessor Don, and several other botanists of eminence, that this

shell is one of the seeds of Achras Sapota, or some allied species,

a large fleshy fruit growing in South America, having from

six to twelve of these nuts in the centre. This plant is the

common Sapota or Sapodilla plum-tree or bully-tree. It is one

161

Coleopterous Genus Upis.

of the largest trees in the mountainous woods of Jamaica, and

attains a height of thirty or forty feet. The fruit, when fully ripe,

has a sweet luscious taste, and is considered an excellent article

for the dessert. If not completely ripe, and some say almost pu-

trid, it is acrid, and cannot be eaten. The ovary has from twelve

to six divisions, the fruit being a many- seeded apple, the seeds

being inclosed in compressed osseous nuts. On opening this seed,

a perfect beetle belonging to the section Hcteromera, family Tene-

bnonidce, and genus Upis, was found. It was ll-12ths of an inch

in length. The shell was filled with a wool-like substance, which

the aforesaid botanists state to have been evidently introduced

through the hole at the top. Notwithstanding, it wras evident on

burning a small portion of it, that it was not an animal substance;

probably it was cotton, from the cotton plant. I have represented

th is insect at Fig. 15 of Plate XIV. of the natural size, and

have only to observe respecting it, that I have seen the same

insect labelled in Mr. Hope’s collection with the specific name

of Morio, although Schonherr, in his Synonymia Insectorum,

gives that name as synonymous with our British Tenebrio obscurus.

The insect is entirely of a black colour, with the exception of the

hairs upon the tarsi, which are piceous ; the third joint of the an-

tennte is considerably elongated ; the thorax (upon the form of

which the chief differences between Upis and Tenebrio rest) is

somewhat cordate truncate, with the posterior angles acute, the

lateral margins distinct. It is narrower than the elytra, which

are obscure, and upon each of which are eight punctate striae, the

central ones being united behind.

Amongst the cotton which had been introduced into the shell

I found the exuviae of the preparatory states of this insect, but

in so tattered a state that I was only able to make out the under

side of the head and tail, and one of the feet ; these I have repre-

sented in Figs. 16, 17, and 18. The mandibles of the larvae are

remarkably dilated, completely covering the base of the antennae,

which are capable of laying in the excavated part of their under

surface.

I should conceive that the insect was — having arrived at the

perfect state — on the point of endeavouring to make its escape,

when it was discovered. That it had not been introduced in the

beetle state into the nut was evident, because the breadth of its

elytra was considerably more than the diameter of the largest

hole ; moreover the discovery of the exuviae of the larvae (which,

it is to be observed, varies considerably from that of Tenebrio

molitor in the structure of the tail) clearly proves that the insect

162

Mr. W. Sells’s Remarks

had been inclosed within the nut in its larva state. The question

then arises, had it entered the nut whilst a small larva through the

smaller aperture noticed above, or was the latter intentionally

made by the discoverer of the insect, and was not the larva

hatched from an egg deposited through the fleshy pulp of the

fruit, and within the nut, whilst still very young, by the parent

insect? I am induced from analogy to adopt the latter opinion.

We are not informed of the precise circumstances under which

the insect was found, whether it was discovered laying on the

ground after the fall of the fruit and shedding of the seeds, or

whether it was found thus endeavouring to escape on cutting

open the fruit, of course before the seeds were shed. This might

tend to solve the difficulty ; but in the meantime I venture the

above as the most plausible and probable conjecture. 1 have

only to add, that the only other species of Upis whose proceed-

ings have been noticed, is Upis ceramboides, a Swedish insect,

which feeds upon the fungi upon trees.

XXXI. Remarks on the above paper, by W. Sells, Esq.,

M. E. S.

I have in my cabinet the pericarpium of Barbadoes’-pride ( Poin -

ciana pulcherrima) , one of the most beautiful flowering shrubs in

the West Indies ; the seed-vessel is, like Cassia fistula, a lomen-

tum, each seed being separated from the adjoining one by a

strong ligneous partition. Upon opening it, I was surprised to

find each loculamentum occupied by a species of Bruchus, all the

seeds but one having been entirely eaten. The insects were

severally enveloped in a coccoon, and were all in the state of

imago but one, which had perished while in pupa. At what

period of its growth the seed-pod had been attacked it is impos-

sible to say ; but it seems to me to be very probable, that in this

and similar instances, where the female insect has to deposit its

eggs in a fruit or seed-vessel that is much advanced, it may, in

the resources of its instinct, be led to prepare the way for the

working of its ovipositor, by first breaking open the surface with

its mandibles.

Any infonnation which it is in my power to afford you respect-

ing the tree which bears the nut containing the insect in question

is, I regret to say, rather of a negative character ; as at present

I am better able to say what it is not than what it is. You

on the preceding Paper.

163

appear to have been led to suppose the nut may be the produce

of Acliras sapota, or some allied species ; and you then describe

under that name the fruit of a totally different tree, as will appear

presently. Achras sapota , vel mammosa, is commonly called

Mammee sapota, and is of Linnaeus, 6th class and first order, and

natural order Dumosce. The tree is cultivated at the Havannah,

but is rare in Jamaica. From the only one I knew there, I

possess specimens of the curiously-formed seed, some of which

accompany this letter. The fruit is oval-shaped, tapering at each

end, and the edible part is a most delicious pulp ; the kernels of

the seeds are used in making the liqueur called noyeau. Tn

June 1815, a bucket-full of the fruit was brought off’ to a ship

which called at the Havannah on her way to England, which the

captain’s lady kindly distributed among the passengers, with

a request that they would return the seeds.

The fruit you describe is the Mammea Americana, or Mammee ;

it is of Linnaeus, class Polyandria, and order Monogynia, and is

the produce of a large forest-tree in Jamaica. The fruit is of

coarse texture, rarely eaten, and never sought after ; it is quite

round, five or six inches in diameter, with a smooth skin of a pale

yellowish brown colour, of a very thick leathery nature, within

which is an orange-coloured, firm, fleshy substance, about an inch

in thickness, of a peculiar but not unpleasant flavour. The seeds

are very large, hard, and rough, occupying all the central part of

the fruit, about six to eight in number, and in shape of the

natural divisions of an orange. Some confusion has doubtless

arisen from the circumstance of this wild fruit, which is never

cultivated, and no one thinks of providing for the table, being

called Mammee, while the rare and exquisite fruit first named is

called Mammee sapota ; when they differ much more from each

other than the apple does from the pin e-apple. I may add, that

the nut containing the Upis is not that of the sapodilla or plum-

tree, of which there are two sorts, both very common in Jamaica:

one is called the Spanish Plum, and the other the Hog Plum.

The bully, or bullet- tree, from its extreme hardness, is a forest-

tree of Jamaica. I only know it as a valuable timber, much used

in mill-work and machinery.

164 Mr. J. O. Westwood’s Monograph upon the

XXXII. Monograph upon the Hymenoptcrous Genus

Scleroderma. By J. O. Westwood, F.L. S.

[Read December 5, 1836.]

It is in the works of Latreille alone that we find any notice of the

existence of the genus Scleroderma. In the fourth volume of the

Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum (page 119), we find an insect

mentioned in the family Mutillarice, under the name of Sclcroder-

mus domesticus, and formed into a section of the genus Methoca,

having the thorax (truncus) “ elongato-cubicus, supra planus.”

In the Regne Animal, the genus Scleroderma is placed between

Myrmecodes and Methoca, and described as not differing from the

former “ que par les palpes allonges et les antennes dont le

second article est decouvert.” As far as I am aware, no further

description either generic or specific has ever been published;

and, judging from an inquiry addressed by M. Guerin to the

Entomological Society of France, it would seem that the French

entomologists are entirely ignorant of it. Having examined a

number of individuals belonging to this genus contained in the

Royal Museum of Berlin, and being in possession of others

communicated by various friends, I have thought that a descrip-

tion of the genus and its various species, accompanied by a few

observations upon its affinities, may not be considered uninterest-

ing from the curious characters of the group.

Scleroderma, Klug. MSS. Sclerodermus, Latreille olim.

Charaeteres generis ex individuis apteris, seu fcemineis, de-

sumpti.

Caput magnum, horizontal, quadratum seu oblongum ; an-

gulis posticis plus minusve rotundatis ; depression aut

subdepressum. Oculi parvi subovales, immersi, ad angulos

anticos capitis locati. Ocelli nulli. Antennae in medio mar-

ginis antici capitis inserti, supra os, capite vix longiores,

10-articulatae ; scapo elongato, reverso-conico ; pedicello

brevi, obconico, flagello articulis contiguis ; latitudine lon-

gitudinem aequante, ultimo obtuso. Os ad marginem anticum

paginae inferioris capitis location, incisione lunari, inter angulos

anticos capitis ducta et ad quartam partem hujus paginae vix

attingente. Mandibulce sat magnae elongalo-triangulares,

incisione pone apicem, dentibusque duobus aut tribus parvis

versus apicem marginis interni, dorso setoso. Maxillae et

Labium, ore clauso, omnino occulta. Maxillae lobis duobus

arete connexis, membranaceis, ciliatis. Palpi maxillares