122 THE entomologist's record. 



microscope, and, having mounted one of the eggs temporarily, we were 

 able to make the following description : — 



Full green in colour ; diameter -Ymm., height -SSmm. ; circular in outline and 

 depressed (or flattened) centrally. In a lateral view the egg is oval in outline ; 

 surface shiny, with a very sti'ong, raised, irregular polygonal (4-, 5-, and 0-sided) 

 reticulation, the mesh fairly large, and the sides of the polygons not very straight; 

 at each point of the mesh is a blunt knob (possibly representing the better-developed 

 spines of the highly-specialised eggs of some of the Lycsenids), these knobs have 

 a transparent, glassy appearance. Seen edgewise, the central area of the upper part of 

 the egg, gives a suggestion of a slight depression, or rather flattening. From above 

 one sees a distinct hollow — the micropylar depression — but the structure of the 

 micropyle is not to be distinguished without proper mounting. 



The eggs were laid in each case on the upperside of leaves, 

 near the middle of the plant, that had only just commenced to unfold, 

 and were almost buried in the long hairs with which the leaves are 

 covered. After description they were forwarded to Mr. Tonge, who has 

 obtained a photograph of them, and this, with other eggs, we hope 

 to reproduce later in the year for the benefit of our readers. 



The story of Acidalia contiguarla." 



By EDMUND CAPPEE, M.D. 



It is not because of any scientific entomological knowledge that I 

 possess that I have agreed to read this paper before the Lancashire 

 and Cheshire Entomological Society, but, at the same time, I do feel 

 that I stand in the position of one who can confidently claim to have 

 taken more specimens of Acidalia co)tti;/iiaria, in its native wilds, in 

 North Wales, than any other individual, and,' for this reason, I venture 

 to present this somewhat gossipy paper to you, as, owing to my never 

 having kept a diary, my remarks on the species must naturally be 

 somewhat rambling. In T/ie EjitiDtiolof/ist, 1878, pp. 241-242, there 

 occur two or three paragraphs, contributed by my father, the venerable 

 president of this Society, which, in a few brief words, summarise his 

 experience in relation to Acidalia conti;/iiaria for the four years 

 preceding the date of publication, I may just recapitulate the history 

 of the insect up to that time. The first specimen appears to have been 

 taken in these Islands, in 185-5, by Richard Weaver, and the capture 

 was recorded in the Kntoiiiolofiisfs Annual for 1856, under the name 

 of Dosithca ehurnata, though Mr. Stainton suggested at the time its 

 correct name. In the following year another specimen was taken near 

 Conway, and yet another near Bangor, in 18G0. About the year 1862, 

 Mr. Greening, of Warrington, secured one, or possibly a pair, and, being 

 successful in rearing the insect, it was for some time erroneously 

 spoken of as "Greening's Pug." It is of some interest to note that all 

 his specimens were of a somewhat dark type, at all events considerably 

 more so than most of the insects we have discovered in the native state, 

 and, as far as I remember, there was a tendency in our own specimens, 

 afterwards bred by the hundred, to gradually darken, but in this I 

 am open to correction by my father. Greening managed to continue 

 the breed up to the time when j\Ir. Capper, as mentioned in the 

 summary referred to, turned it up again near Llanfairfechan in the 

 summer of 1874, and, after a time, " Greening's Pug " developed into 



* Abridged from Paper read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological 

 Society. March 18th, i'JOiJ. 



