SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 



33 



the colour and appearance of -which, from a short distance, they 

 wonderfully resemble. Doubleday, Mrs. Bazett, and many others have 

 remarked on the gi-eat likeness of the yoiuig larva to an ant, which is 

 very striking. 



Method of Pupation. — The Eev. Bernard Smith (" Notes on the 

 Xotodontidse ") states tliat " when full-fed, about September, it (the 

 larva) falls from its food and spins up between leaves forming a rough 

 cocoon." Mr. Holland also describing the pupation says : — " Fagi did 

 not spin up in the green leaves on the tree as Newman says, but 

 always in dead leaves at the bottom of the sleeve, on the side of 

 the sleeve itself, and in the woods I have found them crawling on the 

 ground in search of a pupating place." Our own larvaj, which were 

 kept in a large glass fern case, seemed to become very restless when 

 full-fed, and all Avent on to the mould at the bottom and pupated 

 amongst the leaves which were laid for them. It is astonishing how 

 fast and far they can crawl Avhen they are ready to spin up, and I 

 should think it is very possible that in a state of nature they travel 

 considerable distances. Cocoon : — The cocoon is thin and of a pale 

 broA\aiish-white colour. It is spun so closely and tightly to the leaves 

 that on separating the leaf from the cocoon, the veins of the former can 

 be seen distinctly impressed on the silk. There appears to be a kind 

 of slight lining comi^osed of a few loose threads. The old larval skin 

 is very conspicuous in the cocoon, by reason of the large head, the two 

 tails, and the two pairs of elongated legs. 



Pupa. — The pupa is reddish-black Avith a very smooth and shining 

 surface. The anal segments are rounded, and there is a large anal 

 spine, which is curA-ed backAvard and hooked. The usual duration of 

 this stage is from September to May or June. Sometimes, hoAvever, 

 it only lasts a month or tAv^o, but Avith this question of double-brooded- 

 ness Ave Avill deal later. The Jiev. Bernard Smith says, that the pupa 

 does not lie over to a second season. liest mode of kee^mig Fnpce : — With 

 regard to keeping the pupa?, Mr. Bernard Smith (" Notes on the 

 Notes.") says " there is no necessity to keep the cocoons out of doors, but 

 a moderately damp atmosphere is necessary." He also mentions that 

 some " cut the end of the cocoon open about the beginning of June, 

 as the imago sometimes cannot get out readily, especially if the cocoons 

 are too dry," and adds, that to expose them to a shoAver early in June 

 is good, if they are not cut. Mr. Holland informs me that he got a 

 fair proportion of his to emerge by keeping them in an outhouse in a 

 box half-filled Avith damp sand. He also advised me to be particular 

 not to break open the cocoons. Parasites : — In a table prepared b}'^ 

 Mr. G. Bigiiell, published in Buckler's Lance, tAvo parasites are men- 

 tioned as having been bred from S. fagi. These are : — Eurylahus 

 larvatus, Christ (bred by Wheeler), and 0})hion bomhycivorons, GraA-enhorst 

 (bred by F. Norgate and J. Standish). These are both liymenopterous 

 l^arasites. Eurylahus laroatus is also recorded in the same jjlace as 

 from Cerura vinula. On the 5th December last, I took three dipterous 

 pupte from the cocoon of an Epping Forest larA^a. I forced them, and 

 one appeared on the 11th of the same month, the others about the 22nd. 

 The larA^as of these emerged from an almost circular hole in the wing 

 case of the pupa. I have been unable to identify the species at the 

 South Kensington Museum, but I Avas informed that it is one of the 

 Tachinidce — Sub-fam. Tachinince. 



