Hi THE EnTojioLooist's KKCOkbi 



the cocoon, he tore at the cocoon with these tibial hooks, with very 

 strenuous and active movements, shghtly shiftmg his position occa- 

 sionally so as to vary a little the threction of the tearing force. It 

 took hun about a minute and a half to ett'ect an entrance. On examin- 

 ing the male of <>. -ydintdida it is seen to have these tibial hooks very 

 well developed, raising at once a doubt as to the accuracy of my obser- 

 vations of that species, and suggesting that in it also the male eltects 

 the opening. The doubt is, of course, strengthened by the fact that I 

 observed the process in only one instance, and that the opening being 

 made by the female was not a matter of observation, but of inference 

 from her structure, and from the quiescence of the male, whilst the 

 opening was being effected. This doubt must remain till someone 

 makes further observations. 1 can only say that whilst these doubts 

 are raised by my observations on (). auroUmhata, they are also mini- 

 mised by the fact that, in 0. anrolinibata, the strenuous etibrts of the 

 male at his work of opening the cocoon are so abundantly obvious that 

 one cannot suppose similar efforts could be made by (>. splendida, 

 whilst appearing absolutely quiescent, especially as the cocoon of < >. 

 sjdi'ndida is a much stronger structure than that of O. auroUinbata. 

 The definite position in O. xplendida (at the emergence apex) of 

 this entrance, as compared with the indefinite one in O. aurvlihdmia, 

 also points to something being done from the inside. 



\\'hat, then, is the use of the tibial processes in (>. sjdendlila if they 

 are not required for tearing the cocoon. In forcing himself through 

 the very small opening provided, the male of O. sjdcndida certainly 

 exerted himself most vigorously, and I was very much astonished 

 at the way in which he disappeared, nor did I at all understand how 

 he managed to push himself through against the resistance, that must 

 have been considerable, due to the wings having to be tightly folded to 

 the body. These tibial processes would obviously give him the hold 

 of the cocoon necessary for this. 



The cocoon of (K atiroliiiihata is smaller than that of <>. xjde)idida, 

 more spherical, that is, the ends are much blunter and more rounded 

 than in that species ; it is also of a very decidedly flimsier structure, 

 so much so, that one sees the contents to some extent, whereas in (>. 

 srdi'ndida they could only be made out by being silhouetted against the 

 light. 



It appears that, in both cases, the empty female pupa-case is 

 objectionable, either as likely to be troublesome to the male in finding 

 the way about during his visit, or as interfering with oviposition after- 

 wards, it is, therefore, got rid of in both cases, but in a very different 

 manner. In O. sjdotdida the female pupal skin is of the flimsiest 

 texture, and is broken up into small pieces, almost dust, by the 

 female when she emerges from it. This activity of the ? oi (>. sjdcii- 

 dida in tearing up her pupa-case goes to confirm my opinion that she 

 it is that tears open the end of the cocoon for the entrance of the 

 male. It is obvious that she is very handy with her strong claws. I 

 think I am right in pointing out that a doubt about my observations 

 on this species is suggested by the facts observed in (>. aiindiuduita, but 

 from an ordinary everyday aspect I may say I really have no doubt the 

 conclusion I drew from my observation was correct. In (K aiindiiuhata 

 the interior of the female cocoon is furnished by the larva when 

 constructing it with a longitudinal partition, separating it into two 



