686 Queries and Atiswers, 



to creep out at the hinder opening : this becomes necessary, I suppose, 

 from the case being firmly attached by the other end to a leaf or tree. 

 He also says, that virgin females sometimes lay fruitful eggs." " It is a 

 very extraordinary fact, that the group of moths to which Psyche belongs 

 makes, in more than one respect, a near approach to the Phryganidae ; and, 

 I think, they will be made eventually to connect the orders of Trichoptera 

 and Lepidoptera ; for, whether we consider the larvae and their remarkable 

 economy, or the form of the perfect insects and the substance with which 

 they are clothed, the resemblance is most striking. It will, however, 

 require considerable additions of the Trichoptera to our cabinets, as well 

 as a better knowledge of the structure of those we already possess, before 

 this change can be safely attempted." 



The Tail of the Caterpillar becoming the Head of the Butterfly, (p. 206. 

 398, 399.) — Sir, Your correspondent T. C. (p. 206.) is most certainly in 

 an error when he states this to be a fact. I know not what species he 

 refers to ; but, whatever it may be, such a change is hardly possible. The 

 Vanessa genus, when full fed, spin a kind of silk button, as shown in Insect 

 Transformations (p. 274.), to which the caterpillar fixes itself by the tail, and 

 hangs with the head downwards, generally a day, and sometimes nearly 

 two days, before the change to the chrysalis takes place. The skin begins 

 to split at the lower end, or head of the caterpillar, where the head of the 

 chrysalis is first developed, and, by degrees, is worked upwards, till it is 

 entirely disengaged at the tail end. The chrysalis then fixes its tail to the 

 silk button, and hangs securely till the fly is bred, which is in about four- 

 teen or sixteen days, if the weather proves warm. The outline of the 

 wings and antennae may be easily distinguished in the chrysalis ; and, a day 

 or two before the butterfly appears, the colours of its wings may be seen 

 through the thin shell, showing that the head of the insect continues in the 

 same position. When the fly bursts from the chrysalis, it comes out at the 

 bottom, bends itself upwards, and clings by its feet to the chrysalis, draw- 

 ing out the rest of its body ; and now, for the first time, after tying itself 

 up, is the insect in a position with its head uppermost : here it rests till the 

 wings are expanded, which, I have observed in the Vanessa urticae, is in 

 about ten or twelve minutes after the fly comes out, though they do not 

 acquire sufficient strength, in that time, to enable the insect to fly, being at 

 first soft and flabby, like wet paper. I have bred numbers of the peacock 

 and small tortoiseshell butterflies, but in no instance could I discover the 

 tail of the caterpillar changing into the head of the butterfly. I would 

 recommend T. C. to procure some of these caterpillars, which he will 

 doubtless find plentiful on the great stinging nettle ( t/rtica dioica Lin.), 

 in July, and put them in a breeding-cage, with some of their favourite 

 food : he will then have an opportunity of observing correctly the manner 

 in which they change : and that it is not the tail of the caterpillar which 

 becomes the head of the butterfly. — T. G. Chipping Norton, Oafordshire, 

 May 15. 1832. 



An English Work descriptive of the Species of British Insects ivanted. — 

 Sir, Is there any moderately priced book on British Entomology, by which 

 I may learn to affix to my specimens their proper scientific names ? I am 

 aware there are many such in Botany, and can hardly suppose there are 

 none such in Entomology. The publications of Curtis and of Stephens, 

 though affording the information I want, are too expensive to come within 

 my reach. — Tyro. March 24. 1832. 



Humming in the Air. (p. 110. 301.) — To O.'s query and suggestions on 

 this subject, I beg to contribute some observations. No one who has re- 

 sided in the country, or has walked on an open field or common on a calm 

 summer day, but must have been struck with this truly rural sound. The 

 poet Thomson notices it, with his usual elegance and accuracy : — 



