1913.] 185 



larva. I reared many larvae of C. neglecta on " green grubs." I always 

 found the eggs of the wasp had been damaged by the pai'ent Chrysis. 

 That the eigg of the Chrysis should remain sound and undisturbed 

 during the week during which the wasp larva is feeding up in the cell, 

 and should not itself be eaten by the wasp, is absurd on the face of it. 

 Yet he asserts this to be the universal method of oviposition with 

 Chrysids amongst Odynerus. He asserts only one of two methods of 

 oviposition and only one method of feeding, and that the one that 

 goes with the method of oviposition of which he seems to be ignorant. 



My observations were made five-and-forty years ago, yet they can 

 be repeated at any time by any one who will take the trouble to do so. 



The discussion on "Winter Moths" reminds me of the hypothesis 

 I made as to the plumose antennae of Pt. plumigera and Himera 

 pentiaria, that these are reflections in the male insect of heightened 

 activity of the antennae of the female, rendered necessary by the weak 

 odours (in winter) of the food plant she has to find to lay her eggs. 

 Such antennae are quite exceptional in the insects of the groups to 

 which they belong, nor do they occur in winter moths whose females 

 are apterous. 



Betula, Reigate : 

 A^ril, 1913. 



MELANISM AND WET CLIMATES. 

 BY G. V. HUDSON, F.E.S. 



In 1885 Lord Walsingham pointed out that the dark coloration 

 of Alpine and Arctic Lepidojytera was probably due to the fact that a 

 dark insect, would, on emergence from the pupa, rapidly absorb the 

 heat and thus be ready to take wing, pair, and deposit its eggs much 

 sooner than a white or pale coloured species. A dark coloration was 

 thus shown to be highly advantageous to those species inhabiting high 

 mountains or Arctic regions, where fitful hom-s of hot sunshine are 

 followed by prolonged periods of extreme cold, and the opportunities 

 for the propagation of the species thus very transient. Excellent 

 instances of almost black coloration adapted to meet Alpine conditions 

 are found in ISTew Zealand, and are well exemplified by practically all 

 the species included in the genera Erehia, Orocrambns, and Tauroscopa, 

 most of which frequent elevations of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the 

 sea level. Lord Walsingham' s explanation has never, so far as I am 

 aware, been seriously challenged, and is, I think, generally accepted 

 amongst entomologists as correct. A less pronounced form of melanism 



