No. 8.] FYLES — THE HORNED CORYDALIS. 471 



it had formed a cist immediately under the saucer. In this cist 

 it remained, inactive, until the 28th of the month, when it un- 

 derwent a change. The skin of the three segments next the head 

 divided down the back, and the pupa made its cUhut through 

 the opening. The metamorphosis was very striking. Instead of 

 the dark muddy larva, with all its grotesque appendages, there 

 lay the bright, clean, yellow pupa, with rudimentary wings and 

 antennae, and eyes showing blue through the waxen skin. Spir- 

 acles, of the usual form, appeared along the sides, where the 

 brauchise had been cast off; and the six legs were drawn up 

 under the body. The creature was very sensitive, either to the 

 light, or to the slight jar occasioned by the removal of the glass, 

 for it became uneasy; and, although it could use neither wings 

 nor legs, it w^orked itself out of its cist, and made a complete 

 tour of its prison yard, drawing itself along by its formidable 

 jaws, w^hich, at this stage, closely resembled those of the female 

 imago. In a few days a change of color began to show itself. 

 The abdomen became mottled with olive-green ; and gradually 

 the whole bodv of the insect darkened with the same hue. 



The change to the imago took place in the afternoon of the 

 12th of July. The skin was rent in the same way as that of 

 the larva had been ; and the perfect insect crept from its rup- 

 tured envelope. It crawled up a slight frame-work which I had 

 placed for its convenience, shook out its wings, and, in a few 

 minutes, assumed its full proportions. One thing surprised me 

 greatly. I had expected to see a female insect appear from the 

 case ; for the mandibles of the pupa had been, as I have said, of 

 the exact size and shape of those of the female imago ; but the 

 creature, on making its appearance, presented the preposterously 

 long and scythe-shaped mandibulas of the male. These frightful 

 appendages are doubtless weapons of offense ; for the creature 

 showed its vim by striking with them, viciously, at my finger. 

 So eager was it for a fray, that, in following my hand with 

 repeated snaps, it drove the weapons through its own extended 

 wings. I noticed that the sharp tips of the "horns" were red, 

 as if they contained a colored fluid. And I dare say it would 

 be interesting to allow the creature to inflict a wound, for the 

 sake of noting the effects. I was very unwilling, however, to 

 deprive some one else of the satisfaction of being the first to try 

 the experiment. 



Although the mandibles of the male C. cornutus are of use to 



