288 THE entomologist's record. 



(hi<t, but the plants that I brought home were devoured by the larvae 

 before the latter were full-fed, and I brought two only through, due 

 to the fact that for a time I failed to find a J^ritish plant that the 

 larvffi would eat. When offered them, the two survivors took at once 

 to the flower-heads and seed-capsules of Ant/ti/llis ndneraria on which 

 I placed them. — W. H. St. Quintin, Scampton Hall, Rillington, York. 

 July 25t/,, 1903. 



Eggs of Lepidoptera. — Chnjsophanus alcipliion var. ijortliKn. — 

 Exceedingly minute for the size of the butterfly, almost regularly 

 domed from base to apex, forming as nearly as possible a flattened 

 hemisphere, but slightly contracted at its base. There are five almost 

 complete circles of large, deep polygonal cells, somewhat irregular, 

 with raispd ridges, lessening in size towards the apical area, which 

 appears to be made up of two similar circles of much smaller cells. 

 The micropyle forms a minute central apical depression with a 

 radiating series of more longitudinal cells forming the central stella. 

 The shell is opaque, and the egg dull whitish in colour, showing no 

 signs of the contained larva until the latter puts its dark head through 

 the hole that it makes in the micropylar area in order to escape there- 

 from. (The &oa received July 6th, described .July 8th, 1908, under 

 an ordinary hand lens.) [The egg was received from 'Six. G. 0. Sloper, 

 who obtained it on -July 2nd, 1903, having watched the J lay it on a 

 stem of sorrel at Martigny. He remarks on its being very small for 

 the size of the insect, and states that it is difficult to obtain the eggs 

 of this species because (1) The $ s go through the pantomime of 

 laying, but frequently do not lay. (2) They select masses of sorrel on 

 steep skrees on which to lay their eggs. (3) It is difficult to keep the 

 eye on the particular plant chosen by the 5 when climbing.] 



( 'hysophojiiis hippotluw. — Mr. Sloper obtained three eggs, which 

 he writes me were laid on July 10th. On the 13th he Avas send- 

 ing them, and found one already hatched. I could only find one, 

 with the upper micropylar area eaten out, in the quill on arrival. Of 

 this I made the following notes : — The e^g forms a small flat dome, 

 attached by the whole of its circular base to the upper edge of a 

 sorrel leaf. The sides are encircled by three rows of deep polygonal 

 (roughly hexagonal) cells, with conspicuous raised edges. The larva, 

 on hatching, eats away the egg-shell to the upper edge of the topmost 

 of these three rows. The empty egg-shell is opaque white in colour. 



Paraific tnacra. — Yellow in colour, forming ronghly a truncated 

 cone, with height about equal to diameter; slightly drawn in at base, so 

 that basal and apical diameters are almost equal (the Qgg has, 

 therefore, an almost cylindrical aspect) ; the shell is somewhat shiny, 

 and is traversed from base to apex by a number of fine longitudinal 

 ribs, which appear little more than wrinkles. The apical area appears 

 moderately fiattened, and there is a small central depression, at the 

 bottom of which the micropyle is placed. Certain areas appear almost 

 clear and transparent, others are more opaque, due to the embryo 

 within. One side of the egg is somewhat depressed, but appears not 

 to afiect the embryo. The egg is laid on the front of a very young 

 lamina of grass (but Mi-. Sloper says there appears to be no very definite 

 position on the blade affected by the female when laying). The newly- 

 hatched larva eats the whole of the eggshell (which appears to be very 

 thin and transparent) except that part of the base by which the ei^g is 



