46 MB. NEWPOBT ON THE NATTTBAL HISTOBT 



quitting the pupa state, the eggs may not be deposited for twenty- 

 four to forty-eight hours after impregnation. 



In the following year (1842) I had an opportunity of repeating 

 this observation. Having carefully preserved some larvae of the 

 glowworm through the preceding winter and spring, and succeeded 

 in rearing pupae and perfect insects from them, I found on the 

 morning of the 18th of June, the temperature being at 67° Pahr., 

 that four female glowworms had assumed the perfect state, and 

 that two of these had begun to shine very brilliantly. There were 

 also two male insects; these had not yet assumed the perfect 

 form, but were still pupae ; and as the whole of these had entered 

 the pupa state about the same time, it would seem that the males 

 remain longer in that condition than the females. During the 

 night between the 20th and 21st of June, the two males also 

 threw off the pupa-covering, and their elytra remained soft and 

 pliable, being liable to injury for several hours. On the evening 

 of the 21st, the males began to pay attention to the females, and 

 on examining the insects at five o'clock on the following morning 

 (June 22nd) I found them in coitu ; at three o'clock in the same 

 afternoon, when the temperature of the atmosphere was 70° Fahr., 

 the boxes which contained the glowworms having been placed in a 

 dark closet, they were still attentive to the females, and I found 

 that some eggs had been deposited at the roots of the grass. One 

 of the males was very attentive to the female that appeared to 

 have deposited the ova. This female was shining much more 

 brilliantly than the others. The fact of eggs having been depo- 

 sited by one of these females within a very few hours after copu- 

 lation, while in the former case eggs were not produced until 

 nearly two days had elapsed, seems, when the relative time of the 

 females leaving their pupa state is considered, to confirm the con- 

 clusion above stated, namely that when the female has been 

 abroad for a day or two before being impregnated, the ova, being 

 already fully matured, are then deposited very soon after the com- 

 munion of the sexes ; while, if the female is brought into contact 

 with the male very quickly after leaving the puparium, the ova 

 may not be deposited for one or two days afterwards. 



The deposition of eggs, which had commenced on the 22nd of 

 June, as mentioned above, was continued : at half-past ten on the 

 morning of the 24th, when the temperature of the atmosphere was 

 about 65° Fahr., I found that an abundance of eggs had been de- 

 posited. A few of these were on the stems and blades of the 

 grass, but by far the greater proportion on the small exposed root* 



