220 THE entomologist's record. 



Satyridae which in the pupa has the antenna as long as that of the 

 imago, but not reaching the apex of the wings. 



Pupal ichifj of Vanessa ataJanta. — At the point of emergence, the 

 imaginal wing (inside the pupal) is very distinct, and has been pushed 

 out so that the outer margin of the wing extends bej^ond " Poulton's 

 line " to the extreme pupal outer margin. The fringe does not at this 

 point ^occupy the whole of the area beyond " Poulton's line " to the 

 pupal outer margin, but a rather larger proj^ortion than in V. to. Three 

 lunular j^atches of pale fringe are conspiciious near the apex, separated 

 from each other by darker patches ; the angle of the wing is practically 

 obsolete, although one traces a dark fold extending from the angle 

 in " Poulton's line " to the outer margin, but below^ this the pale fringe 

 lunules again become clear, esjjecially the two directly below the point 

 where the angle Avill be developed on emergence ; two other pale lunular 

 fringe marks, distinct but smaller than those directly above, are nearer 

 the anal angle. 



Medio-dorsal ro^o of tubercular points in pupa of V. atahinta. — The 

 larva of V. atalanta differs remarkaljly from that of V. io in the pre- 

 sence of a medio-dorsal row of spines on the anterior part of each of 

 the abdominal segments in the former, of which there is no trace in the 

 latter. The pupa of F. atalanta has these replaced by a tiny rounded 

 tubercular jjrocess on the anterior margin of each abdominal segment. 

 These appear to act as a sort of hinge in limiting the movement of the 

 pupa to a lateral one, and are generally metallic in colour, hoAvever little 

 the metallic tint may be developed elsewhere on the pupa. 



Dehiscence of sjn'nes. — Some of the larvjfi of Vanessa io which I had, 

 died, or were killed when they were almost at the point of pupation. 

 The next day I found that the spines had fallen off, leaving onl}' a scar 

 on the surface of the skin. The spines, therefore, of Vanessids are 

 apparently simple epidermal appendages. 



Newly -hatched larva of Vanessa urticoe. — The newly-hatched larva of 

 V. tirticce, in spite of the adult being so well spined, is ju-ovided with 

 the simplest possible tubercules, each having single hairs of the most 

 approved type common to the newly-hatched larvae of other groups 

 such as Pieridce, Satyridce, &c. 



Errata. — Will our readers please cross out the word " entire " 

 (p. 196, line 15,) and write " outer, " and also seven lines lower 

 down substitute the name " Parasa " for " VarasaJ^ 



JJlEhKjlOZjlliOl^JK Ijl Bl^Il'l^Ji LEPITOOP'TEI^yi. 



By major J. H. STILL, F.E.S. 



Having read with great interest the A'arious papers on this subject, 

 I incline (from my own observations) to the conclusion that wet and 

 dark places produce dark forms of many species of our lei)idoptera. 

 Why this should be so is a jiroblem still to be solved ; Ijut it is now 

 generally admitted that many creatures have a jjower of assimilating 

 themselves to their surroundings, as was proved by the recent 

 experiment at the Marine Biological Museum at Plymouth, of lighting 

 up the under surface of the glass tank in which soles had been placed 

 with the result of a change in colour. The discussion being already in 

 such able hands as those of Messrs. Tutt, Eobson and Grote, I only 



