HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



265 



GRAPHIC MICROSCOPY. 



By E. T D. 



No, XII.— Eggs of Mottled Umber Moth (Hybernia defoliaria). 



EYOND beauty 

 of configuration, 

 surprisingly 

 varied in charac- 

 ter, the eggs of 

 insects exhibit 

 under magnifica- 

 tion the most 

 delicate combi- 

 nationsofcolom-; 

 including a 

 gamut of white, 

 yellow, gray, 

 pink, and 



lirowns, blend- 

 ing with extreme 

 daintiness, and, 

 in many in- 

 stances, aided by 

 iridescent inter- 

 ferences. 

 The eggs of the mottled umber moth involve both 

 qualities, play of colour and elegance of design, dis- 

 closing reticulated hexagons, the angles studded with 

 white nodules, the depressions flashed with opalescence. 

 They are found on the stems of the buck-thorn and 

 white-thorn. 



Early December is a favourable time to procure 

 eggs of insects on and beneath the bark, and in the 

 interstices of those trees or plants which serve the 

 larvae with food ; decaying wood and old palings near 

 the source of future supply are promising spots. 



Want of space contracts a list ; but of elegant and 

 typical eggs may be mentioned : puss moth (Lenira 

 viniila), in colour and shape like a ripe Seville 

 orange, found on willow and poplar. Magpie moth 

 {Abraxis gross:/ /aria n'a), egg shell oval, of a delicate 

 puce, scintillating with iridescence ; currant, goose- 

 berry, sloe. Vapourer moth (Org}'ia autiqua), egg 

 round, flattened, creamy yellow, bordered with a 

 brown ring, thickening at the summit, found on 

 hardy shrubs, even in smoky London squares. Thorn 

 No. 240. — December 1884. 



moth {Eniwmos crosaria), a beautiful egg, elongated, 

 square, the top frilled, bottom perfectly flat ; oak, 

 birch. Dingy shears [Orthosia ypsilou), subconical, 

 reticulated, with raised ribs running in regular order 

 from the base to the top ; firmly attached to the 

 slender stems of willow and poplar. Lappet moth 

 (Gastropac/iaquertifolia), spherical, blue, with circular 

 brown bands, delicately blending ; willow and l)lack- 

 thorn. Chocolate tip {Clostera ciirtula), globular, 

 colour like antique Roman glass ; aspen, sallow, and 

 poplar. Bordered rustic {Caradrina morpheits), sub- 

 conical, showing a ribbed structure leading to a 

 curiously-formed lid, found on teazle. 



Many eggs are sufficiently transparent to reveal 

 the young larvce within ; notably, the buff tiger moth 

 (Diacrisia riissitla), appearing like a globule of glass, 

 covered with a delicate net-work of hexagons ; and 

 the small emerald (lodis Venaria), an oval silvery 

 egg, singularly clear, showing the contents, found on 

 stems of clematis. 



Eggs change in colour as they mature ; those of 

 the Kentish glory (Eiidromis versicolor), on birch, 

 beech, and lime, are at first, brimstone, changing 

 to deep green, red, and finally purple ; silkworm 

 eggs, as well known, pass through successive tones, 

 from lemon yellow to dingy slate. 



Eggs should be empty and seen as mere shells ; 

 the difficulty is to get them intact, when hatched 

 naturally, the larvae, on emerging split the structure 

 generally at the most interesting point, the apex. 

 Beautiful as are the eggs of the Lepidoptera, for 

 quaint device, in lids, caps, fringes, markings, and 

 for colour, they are surpassed by those of parasitic 

 insects ; under fine reflected light few objects excel 

 in beauty the eggs of an Anopluran, packed with 

 singular regularity in the shaft and barbs of the 

 feather of a bird. 

 Crouch End. 



The experiments first broached by an American 

 naturalist, that dying fish can be restored by brandy, 

 have been confirmed by Mr. W. Chambes. 



N 



