HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



221 



The most common example of a butterfly roller 

 is the caterpillar of the well-known Red Admiral 

 {Pi/rameis Atalanta). It feeds on the nettle in 

 July and August, and constructs a kind of web, or 

 rather tent, of two or three of the leaves. Its rela- 

 tive, the Painted Lady ( Pyntmeis Carditi), is also a 

 leaf-roller, inhabiting the thistle as well as the 

 nettle, but being found more generally on the 

 former. Another butterfly roller is the Glanville 



Fig. 153. Painted Lady (P^cameis Carrfui). 



Pritillary {^Melitaa clnxia), but it is more of a 

 web-spinner than a Tortrix, and the cell, or rather 

 roof, is shared in common, the caterpillars being 

 gregarious. Coming to the true Tortrices, we find, 

 as at once the commonest and most interesting, 

 the Oak Tortrix (Toriri.v viridana), an insect that 

 would be more common than it is were it not a 

 special object of attention to a species of Empis, 

 which sucks the blood of the insect vampire- 

 fashion. The wings of the moth are of a bright 

 pea-green colour-, which harmonizes well with the 

 leaves, and is no doubt a very eflicient protection. 



Fig. 151. Ditto (Variety). 



The beauties of worm-eaten apples are well 

 known ; but few persons, however, arc aware of 

 the origin and economy of the little animal that 

 spoils our fruit. This is the larva of the Codliu 

 moth {CuTpocupsa pomonana), which, though not 

 strictly a leaf-roller, belongs to the tribe of 

 Tortrices. In early summer the parent moth de- 

 posits her eggs on the young apples, and these. 



soon hatching, produce a small white grub, which 

 straightway setting to work, burrows deep into the 

 fruit, taking care, however, to steer clear of the 

 vital parts, to assail which would cause the pre- 

 mature fall of its home. As soon as the caterpillar 

 is full fed, the core is attacked, and the apple falling 

 in consequence, the creature eats its way out, 

 ascends the trunk of some tree, and ensconcing itself 

 in some snug crevice, prepares its cocoon, in which 

 to undergo its transformation. The moth, which 

 appears the following summer, is of a brick-brown 

 tint, and, plain as its colouring, it is not without 

 beauty if examined with the aid of a lens. 



There can be no doubt that leaf-rolling is in- 

 tended as a defensive resource against the weather, 

 birds, and also against those more insidious yet 

 scarcely less dangerous foes to lepidopterous larvaj, 

 the Ichneumons. Against these latter, however, 

 it is not always successful, and the Ichneumon 

 shows such wonderful skill in the discovery of its 

 prey, that one is constrained to attribute it to some 

 power of discrimination of which we are not aware. 

 What this power is, or whence its origin, I must 

 leave the readers of Science-Gossip to determine. 



C. LOVEKIN. 



NEWS FROM THE "CHALLENGER." 



THERE can be little doubt that the naturalists 

 on board this exploring ship are doing good 

 work, and that the results of their investigations 

 will throw much light on many natural history and 

 geological questions. Even within the short period 

 the vessel has been exploring, many new facts have 

 been laid before the Royal, Linnean, and other 

 learned societies. The last news was contained in a 

 letter from the chief of the expedition, Professor 

 W^yville-Thomson, of which the following is a 

 summary. The letter is dated from Melbourne. 

 Observations had then been made at nineteen 

 principal stations, suitably distributed over the 

 track, and including Marion Island, the neighbour- 

 hood of the Crozets, Kerguelen Island, and the 

 Heard group. 



After leaving the Cape of Good Hope, several 

 dredgings were taken a little to the southward, at 

 depths from 100 to 150 fathoms. Animal life was 

 very abundant ; and the result was remarkable in 

 this respect, that the general character of the fauna 

 was very similar to that of the North Atlantic, many 

 of the species even being identical with those on the 

 coasts of Great Britain and Norway. 



Marion Island was visited for a few hours, and a 

 considerable collection of plants, including nine 

 flowering species, was made by Mr. Moseley. A 

 shallow- water dredging near Marion Island gave a 

 larger number of species, again representing many 

 of the northern types, but with a mixture of southern 



