NOTES ON HYLES EUPHORBI.E. 145 



Sculpturing of the pupa of Thestor ballus {with plate). 



By T. A. CHAPMAN, M.D. 



In my notes on Thestor ballus in the Knt. Th'cDnl, xvi., pp. 282 et srij., 

 I referred to the elaborate sculpturing of the pupal skin. I am indebted 

 to Mr. F. N. Clark for photographs of portions of this structure, and 

 though the reproductions of these here given do not do justice to the 

 delicate tracery they represent, they will enable some idea of it to be 

 realised. Plate v., fig. 2, is a representation of the greater part of 

 the dorsal area of the first four abdominal segments, magnified 20 

 diameters. The surface has scattered over it a number of small knobs, 

 which are specially crowded round the spiracles, the little knobs are 

 connected together by raised causeways, lower than the knobs, but 

 raised above the general surface. From each knob there may radiate 

 one or two, up to five or six, or very rarely even eight, of these cause- 

 ways, forming a very elaborate pattern on the surface. 



On Plate v., fig. 1, is a portion of the same surface magnified 100 

 diameters, in which these causeways may be better seen as well as the 

 structure of the knobs. I say the structure may be seen, but that it can 

 be quite understood, even by a careful examination of the actual speci- 

 mens, is more than I am prepared to say, as I do not think I quite 

 understand it. What one sees, however, is the raised dark knob, 

 extending outwards in usually six directions into the causeways, actual 

 or abortive, whilst centrally there is a darker circle enclosing a white 

 star, usually with five rays and a dark central spot. 



There can be little doubt each knob represents a secondary skin 

 hair, but of what the actual structure is, I can say nothing beyond a 

 guess that the white star is really a very abbreviated hair, with a 

 stellate top. This conclusion is suggested by a comparison with 

 equally curious structures on other pupae. 



Notes on Hyles euphorbiae, L. 



By J. W. H. HARBISON, B.Sc. 

 In January (1905) I received some pupse of Hyles euphorbiae from 

 my friend, Mr. Verity of Florence. As these pupa? have now produced 

 their imagines, and the ova resulting from an attempt to breed the 

 species have proved infertile, some notes on the species may be 

 interesting. Sir. Verity, in a list (which appears in the Bulletino 

 della Societa Fittouiolof/ica Italiana, pp. 123-170) of lepidoptera taken 

 upon the coast of Lucchesi, Italy, makes some very interesting remarks 

 upon this insect. He has spent two Septembers in Forte dei Marmi, 

 and each time has obtained the larvae of this species in plenty, but 

 makes the noteworthy remark that, whereas the larviB obtained in 

 1904 were quite normal, those he collected in 1902 were far from being 

 so. In point of fact, so far did they vary from the type, that he was 

 induced to suppose that there was a probability that they were the 

 progeny of tl. nicaea and }I. euj/horbiae, and that the constitutional 

 weakness observed in the larvte in 1902 partially confirmed that 

 suspicion. In conclusion, he makes the statement " infatti costituiscono 

 ostensibilmente un passaggio alia larva della ]>. nicaea che abita la 

 Riviera di Levante." Although the larv* in 1904 were typical, one 

 of the pupfe, which he was so good as to send me, had the wing-cases 

 and the cases of the antenniB and legs jet black. 



