THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 299 



the twilight, as I have never taken it before ten minutes past eight, nor 

 ever after half-past eight. Bright, clear evenings I have found much more 

 favourable than cloudy ones, though I have visited the locality on many 

 evenings without seeing one. 



I have never succeeded in seeing where they came from, though I 

 have stood watching intently for them for fifteen minutes or more before 

 they appeared, but suddenly two or three would be in the air together, 

 often out of reach of the net, swinging back and forth in their peculiar 

 oscillating manner, though single individuals have been taken by others 

 while flying along near the ground. 



If touched by the net without being caught, they would drop into the 

 grass apparently quite helpless. Six-sevenths of those which I have taken 

 were males, but others have secured a more even division of the sexes. 



One of the specimens taken in 1891 was a female, which I kept alive 

 in order to secure eggs. It laid freely an enormous number, and I do not 

 know whether it might not have laid more had it been kept alive longer. 

 It was kept alive for two days in a wooden box, with gauze over the top, 

 and seemed to nang perfectly quiet and to allow the eggs to run from her, 

 as they were not attached, but loose in the bottom of the box. At the 

 end of this time she was found to have been knocking about and spoiling 

 her wings, and so was killed. The eggs were counted very carefully, and 

 were found to amount to the enormous number of 2,151. 



The following description was taken : — 



Length, .027 of an inch. 



Breadth, .022 of an inch. 



Even oval, slightly flattened on lower side, perfectly smooth, but dull, 

 like unglazed porcelain. 



Colour, a pale honey-yellow when laid, soon turning black. 



This female, however, must have been virgin, as the eggs speedily 

 shrivelled, so that I was unable to obtain the young larvae, or to make 

 any of the experiments which I had contemplated in the direction of 

 placing the eggs upon any likely food-plant. In connection with this 

 subject several questions of great interest arise. It is well known that 

 the moths of this family are very abundant in the Old World, one espe- 

 cially, Hepiahis Velleda, swarming in Scotland in myriads, yet though we 

 have a great many species on this continent, I do not think that any one 

 can be considered other than very rare, except H. Micstelinus, which 

 Packard reported (Proc. Ent. Soc, Phil., Ill, 394), as not uncommon at 



