PARTHENOGENETIC TENDENCY IN MELANOCERA MENIPPE. 273 



To recapitulate, the moths used in these experiments 

 included forty male aud thirty-eight female Grynanisa maia, 

 ten male and fourteen female Melanocera menippe and 

 four male Nudaurelia belina. 



Fairing of the Moths. — The pupas were all carefully 

 sexed and buried under soil in muslin cages which were placed 

 in a well ventilated shed. At the advent of the wet season 

 the soil was occasionally damped. 



The images of maia began to emerge first (September 17th, 

 1914), and before any of those of menippe had appeared 

 about fifty of the maia moths had become decrepid. The 

 last moth to emerge appeared on November 5th, and it was 

 deformed. The menippe began to emerge on October 6th, 

 and the last moth emerged on October 25th. 



Only fresh moths were used for pairing, and since it fre- 

 quently happened that fresh individuals of opposite sex of the 

 two species were not available at one and the same time the 

 number of possible pairings was greatly reduced. 



The total number of pairings that could be effected were : 



A. 5 (menippe ? x maia c?), 



B. 1 (menippe ? x menippe c?), 

 c. 7 (maia ? x menippe S), 



I). 2 (maia ? x belina c?), 



K. 1 (menippe ? x belina d"), 

 leaving 7 unpaired ? menippe and 29 unpaired ? maia. 

 The paired moths were placed in cubical muslin cages of a 

 capacity of about Ij cubic feet. A small branch of wattle 

 and a glass pot of diluted honey were placed in each cage. It 

 appears that the copulation of Saturniid moths occurs at 

 night, and in no case was it observed in these experiments. 

 From the account to be given below of the development of the 

 eggs laid by the females it would appear that copulation 

 occurred in at least four of the pairs menippe ? x maia c?, 

 in the pair menippe ? x menippe <S , and in one of the 

 pairs maia ? x belina (^. Whether it occurred in any 

 of the other pairings is more doubtful. 



Unpaired Maia. — The unpaired maia females laid eggs 



