198 THE entomologist's record. 



with Dr. Chapman's essay on " The genus Acronycta and its allies," 

 based on their external structure, then we shall be able to judge how 

 far we are all Avrong in our methods of work, and how much reason 

 there is for considering Mr. Bedford as a " Projohet in Israel." — J. W. 

 TuTT. July 10th, 1894. 



On hybernation in the egg stage. — Last autumn I took on ivy 

 a female Xanthia aurago, which laid a few eggs shortly afterwards. 

 Tlie majority of these began to change within a week or two, and were 

 leaden-coloured, with the young larva3 ready to emerge, before the end 

 of November. They remained in this condition till the spring, hatch- 

 ing at the end of March or beginning of April. (As I sleeved them on 

 beech I cannot give the exact date of hatching). The remaining eggs, 

 that did not change, shrivelled up after a time, showing that they were 

 infertile. I found the larvae nearly full-fed in the sleeve towards the 

 end of May, and they soon afterwards began to pupate. This ex- 

 perience of the larva hybernating in the shell is similar to that which 

 I recorded in this Magazine last year (vol. iv., p. 172), and it seems 

 probable that it is the usual occurrence with this species, and that Mr. 

 Buckler's (Mr. Hellins' ?) description of the larva being undeveloped 

 in the egg till early in the year, which Mr. Tutt quotes in the July 

 number (p. 168) as a constant condition, is exceptional. — W. S. Eiding, 

 M.l)., Buckerell, Honiton. Jult/ 20th, 1894. 



On immunity from grease. — Mr. C. S. Coles asks in your issue for 

 March (p. 72) if any explanation can be given why specimens set more 

 than twenty years ago are perfectly free from grease, verdigris and 

 mites. For some years past I have received many specimens from 

 Southern India, and have been struck with the perfect immunity from 

 grease of them all, not a single one out of hundreds being affected, not 

 even the thick-bodied moths. On the other hand, my own captures in 

 England have suffered from the common enemy. In both cases I use 

 white pins, and the treatment generally is the same, but there is this 

 difference : — the Indians are not pinned or relaxed imtil they are bone 

 dry and brittle, being sent home in papers, whereas the Britishers have 

 been pinned and set as soon as possible. Is this a likely explanation ? 

 Perhaps other collectors of troi^ical specimens will give us the benefit 

 of their observations. I am subjecting all this year's captures, by way 

 of experiment, to a thorough drying before pinning, as I conceive this 

 must have an apjjreciable effect on the ultimate condition. — Jno. Pratt, 

 The Cedars, New Barnet. 



A remarkable incident. — Last night, upon going into my larval 

 room, I found that during the day several imagines of Bombyx quercns 

 had emerged and developed. I put three of these (two males and a 

 female) into a cardboard box. Upon lifting the lid about ten minutes 

 afterwards, I was astonished to find the two males in copulation (if I 

 may be allowed the term), the spinster being quite deserted. These 

 two males remained paired for about an hour and a half before sepa- 

 rating. On the surface, neither of them appears to me to bear any 

 marking distinctive from ordinary males, with the excejjtion, perhaps, 

 of the abdomen of one of them, which has a slightly feminine look 

 about it. I have never previously met with a similar incident, and 

 think that one of these " males " may perhaps be hermaphroditic in its 

 internal structure. — Alfred J. Johnson, Erdington. July 16th, 189-4. 



The two males mentioned in the preceding paragraph were sent to 



