274 ERNEST WAliKEN, 



freel}'. These eggs usually began to shrivel iu about twenty- 

 days. If cut open about fourteen days after laying, the 

 contents were seen to consist of a fluid, greenish-yellow, 

 homogeneous yolk. In about five weeks the yolk had con- 

 tracted and dried, but as a rule it did not appear to decompose 

 or turn black. The number of eggs laid by an unpaired 

 female varied from about 100 to 200, with a mean of about 

 150. Eggs laid by the unpaired moths were cut open daily 

 and examined with a hand-lens magnifying 20 diameters, but 

 no trace of development or segmentation could be detected. 

 The unpaired female died in about eleven days, and the un- 

 paired male in about seven days. 



Unpaired Menippe. — The behaviour of unpaired me- 

 nippe females was markedly different. There was the 

 greatest reluctance to lay eggs, and one individual died in 

 about twelve days without laying any. The eggs of menippe 

 are of somewhat larger size than those of maia, and the 

 number produced by a female is about 130. The average 

 number laid by unpaired menippe did not exceed thirty- 

 two as against 150 of maia. 



The unpaired menippe remained phlegmatic and lived 

 about as long as the paired moths. On dying, the abdomens 

 were mostly filled with unlaid eggs. A number of these eggs 

 Avere opened and examined some five weeks after the death of 

 the insect. The egg-shells were thin and not so hard as those 

 of the laid eggs. Generally the yolk was still fluid and 

 apparently fresh and normal in character, but no trace of 

 development could be detected. 



The contents of the laid egg were of a bright yellow colour, 

 and in the majority of unfertilized eggs the yolk gradually 

 dried, and the egg-shell became somewhat indented in the 

 course of four or five weeks. The yolk, as a rule, did not 

 appear to decompose in any way. On one occasion artificial 

 fertilisation was attempted. The spermatophores removed 

 from a fresh male maia were rubbed over the eggs removed 

 from a recently emerged female menippe. In about three 

 weeks the eggs began to shrivel and darken, and on opening 



