tllK FOOD HABITS OF THE TETTIGIDyE. 7 



the centre of the jar, and, like a herd of sheep, commenced browsing 

 on the lichens. During this period the head is frequently lowered, 

 outstretched, or easily moved from one side to the other, in reaching 

 for food. In the course of twenty-four hours the spot of two square 

 inches would be laid bare, leaving nothing but the black earth. Each 

 day I replenished the pasturage by substituting a fresh piece. When 

 I placed wet clayey mud, having a marshy odour, coming fresh from 

 the river border, in the jar, it was always devoured with avidity ; the 

 feeding sometimes lasting hours at a time. Meantime, the excrement 

 accumulations became troublesome, covering the limited area. At 

 the expiration of a week the individuals died, as the result of the 

 cramped quarters. Tettigians are not unlike the earth-worm in the 

 nature of their food. In the matter of fertilisation of the soil, they, 

 too, contribute to this end, but within narrow limitations. I have 

 seen specimens of Tiiilacti/lus, a little member of the (injllntalpidae, 

 living as close neighbours of, and often feeding with, the Tcttitiiilae. 

 None of the species could be induced to eat the parts of higher 

 vegetation, such as the leaves of plants. TcttiijUea feeds upon the 

 same kind of food as the other genera. 



Notes on hybrid Smerinthus populi^ocellatus. 



By A. LACOT. 

 (Continiuil from Vol. ix., p. o02y. 



Pup.E. — Just a dozen larvae went down, and up to the present I 

 have examined two of my pots in which seven of the larvjc had 

 buried. 



The result of this examination was so disappointing that I decided 

 not to pursue my researches any further, but to await the spring, and 

 not risk disturbing the remaining live before the winter. 



Only six pupju had resulted, and of these one had already emerged, 

 two were mildewy, in one the moth had developed and then died, one 

 had failed to complete its pupation, and the remaining one appeared 

 alive and healthy, but appearances are apt to be deceptive, and I am 

 by no means inclined to feel even moderately ceftaiu that it will 

 produce a moth. 



Variation of Pupa. — The pupju varied to a slight extent, both in 

 colour and shape ; they are, as a rule, nearer in shape to the pupa of S. 

 Dciilatm, being longer and not so dumpy as that of N. pcpuli, with a ten- 

 dency to narrow towards the head. On the ventral area, the scars of the 

 prolegs and anal claspers do not show up so plainly as is usually the case 

 with S.i)(,/iuU ; the final segments are, however, not nearly so rounded off 

 as they are in N. ocdlatus ; the dorsal aspect of the anal segments and 

 cremaster are much more distinctly like those of N. im/iuli. The 

 surface is much smoother than that of S. iinimli, but without the 

 polished finish of N. nrdlatiis. As regards colour, four were dead 

 black, two of these having a slightly greyish tinge on the wing-cases ; the 

 remaining two being of a deep reddish-brown with a slightly smoother 

 surface. The sexual organs are quite as plainly marked in pup« of 

 the hybrid as in those of the parent species ; the reddish pupa; were 

 female, and the four black ones male. 



Cocoon. — Two of the larviu formed rather large and firm oval cells 



