158 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



me to write this note. My little son has found a parasite in the chrysalis 

 of Pieris rapae, Sch., which I will report on as soon as worked up. 



Philip S. Sprague, Boston, Mass. 



Cocoons Made by Snout-beetles. — I was sorry to find, upon glanc- 

 ing over my late communication that, as it appears on page 118, I have 

 in my haste made too sweeping an assertion in stating that " Curculionidous 

 larvae do not spin silken cocoons,"' (lines 16 and 17). I know of none in 

 this country which have any such power of spinning, and this is so very 

 generally the case with the family that it may almost be stated as a rule. 

 Yet, Westwood in his Introductio?i mentions, on other authority, several in- 

 stances of such spinning, some of which I am inclined to think must be taken 

 aim grano sa/is. It will be well to instance them, however. On page 

 337 (Vol. II.) he speaks of the perfect female of Rhynchites bacchus, Linn., 

 as lining her nidus with silk, yet from the writings of Kollar, Nordlinger, 

 Boisduval and others, we may learn that this nidus is simply closed with 

 a glutinous substance, and whether secreted from the mouth or anus does 

 not appear so clear. Again, on page 341, mention is made of an unde- 

 termined species which in the larva state draws the clusters of apple 

 blossoms together by means of a web. This is on the authority of Salis- 

 bury on Orchards, which I cannot consider very trustworthy. But on 

 page 343 we find sufficiently authentic notices of cocoons spun by larva: 

 belonging to the genera Hypera and Clonus, and by another weevil named 

 Curculio p'unpinellce : my statement should, therefore, be qualified. 



C. A'. Riley. 



Artificial Colouring of Lepidoptera. — At a recent meeting of 

 the Entomological Society of London, (England), Air. Butler exhibited 

 species of Lepidoptera, upon which experiments had been made by Mr. 

 Meldola, with regard to testing the effects of dyes. The insects were 

 Pieris brassiece and napi, Gonopteryx r/iamni, Vanessa urticce, Pyrantels 

 Atalanta and Arctia caja. The most striking effects were observable in 

 P. napi dyed black, and A. caja dyed metallic-green and magenta. The 

 dyes used were aniline. Mr. Meldola dissolved the dyes in spirits of 

 wine and laid them on with a camel-hair pencil. Not being satisfied with 

 Mr. Meldola's experiments, Mr. Butler resolved upon performing others 

 on his own account ; but being then ignorant of the system pursued, he 

 dissolved his dyes in hot water, and discovered that the specimens would 

 not take them. He then made a solution of soda, into which he dipped 

 6". rJiamni, and found that the yellow pigment immediately united with 



