222 THE entomologist's record. 



half-starved, specimens at the South London meeting last night, and there 

 is no doubt about the determination. I have a fairly long series from 

 Germany, received from Herr A. Hoffmann. This particular var. is 

 abundant on the Continent in some pine forests, " Silesian Mountains, 

 Eastern Hungarian Mountains, Hercynian Mountains," whilst the allied 

 var. lusa?ia, H.-S. 330, comes from the "Alps," and the type from the 

 "Alps and the French and Hungarian Mountains." The species is, 

 therefore, new to Bricain, but is not new to science, and donelana will 

 have to be relegated to oblivion. It is a most interesting addition 

 to our fauna notwithstanding. — J. W. TuTT. October, 189:. 



Expansion of Wings. — I have been able to observe this in Liparis 

 saiicis, a species well suited for observation, owing to the marked con- 

 trast between the yellow blood and the white wing scales (I see, by the 

 way, that some of our entomologists are not sure that the flui :1 is blood. 

 I do not presume to dogmatise on the matter, as I have not a micro- 

 scope of sufficiently high power to determine the presence or absence 

 of corpuscles, but the fact mentioned by Mr. Reid, that the fluid which 

 exudes from a pricked wing subsequently coagulates, points to the 

 presence of fibrin therein). The presence of the blood along the lines 

 of the nervures was very manifest, but I could see no evidence of its 

 passing thence into the general inter-membranous space. It was 

 evident, however, that blood was poured directly into the space, 

 entering it at the base of the costal margin. I suggest the following 

 hypothesis in explanation of these appearances. That blood is first 

 injected into the vessels in which the tracheae lie, and, by unrolling the 

 tracheae, expands the membranes, and that, subsequently, blood is inde- 

 pendently poured between the membranes, and that the fibrin resulting 

 from its coagulation strengthens the wing. — F. J. Buckell, Canonbury 

 Square. August ^th-, 1891. 



I have been breeding Lasiocampa quercifolia, another species which 

 has a large quantity of blood poured into the wing between the mem- 

 branes, I was much struck with the fact that one specimen (a large 

 and fine female), after the complete expansion of the wings, had several 

 small globules of the yellow blood collected on the outside of the upper 

 surface of the superior wings. Thinking the exudation was simply due 

 to an excess of b'.ood, and never having noticed such a phenomenon 

 before, I thought I would leave the fluid to see if it was possible that 

 it would be absorbed again. As I had expected, it was not, but the 

 globules on evaporation formed small, black solid fibrinous masses on 

 the wings. Dr. Chapman thinks the wing was scratched as the moth 

 forced her way out of the cocoon, hence the exudation. I think, now, 

 that something of the kind must have occurred. — J. W. Tutt. September 

 2^ih, 1 89 1. 



MURRENT NOTES. 



Dr. Wood has bred Aplota palpella from larvae living gregariously in 

 silken galleries on the surface of a moss (^Homalotheciitm sericeu7n) on 

 which it feeds, the moss growing on an old sandstone wall. The first 

 emergence took place on July 19th, and a worn specimen was taken 

 wild on August iSth. A description of the larva occurs in the E.M.M. 



