THE LiFE-niSTOltY OB* A LBPlDOPTEKOUS INSECT. i 



^vl•ites from East Looe on July 12tli, 1871, as follows (Eidom., vol. v., 

 pp. 356-7): — " Whether the following fact concerning SjJiinx liijastri 

 is new or not I cannot say, it appears so strange to me that I 

 think it worth sending to you. This year I have bred a female 

 »S'. Uijmtri, and not wanting her as a specimen 1 allowed lier to remain 

 in the breeding-cage for some days, during which she laid many eggs 

 on the net covering the cage. I thouglit, of course, that they would 

 be imfruitful ; but, nnich to my surprise, after a time young catcr})illars 

 liegan to make their appearance ; and although the eggs were all laid 

 during one night, they continued to emerge from the 2nd to the (5th of 

 July. I have now nearly fifty of them ; they have grown already to 

 nearly three times their size wlien they were born. Being certain tiiat a 

 male was never near the female that produced the eggs, I am quite at 

 a loss to know how and when the eggs could have been fertilized ; in 

 fact, I am perfectly puzzled to account for it in any way." 



The tale is continued by Mr. T. Brown of (Jand)ridge (Enioin., 

 vol. v., p. 31)5) who under date of August 18th, 1871, writes :—" Three 

 weeks ago I found, in Wicken Fen, a full-grown larva of 0. roenosa, 

 and I put in a box by itself. During the night it sjmn its cocoon, and 

 five days afterwards it emerged, a tine female ; a few days a fterit laid 

 more than fifty eggs : they duly hatched, and are now under the care 

 of Mr. Hellins. I am quite certain that this female was not 

 impregnated before laying its eggs, as it was completely isolated from 

 coming into contact with any male. A similar circumstance occurred 

 with me some few years ago; the species then were Snierintlms tiliae and 

 S. ocellatus." 



In 1879, Mr. W. G. Pearce of Bath writes (Entom., vol. xii., 

 pp. 229-30) : — " As previous to this year I was unaware of 

 parthenogenesis among the Lepidoptera, I send you this note, thinking 

 the subject may prove as interesting to others as it is to myself. Last 

 summer I fed up about a dozen larvae of Liparis disjxir, tliree of which 

 I gave to a friend, and they all emerged as males ; the first of my own 

 to come out was a male, which I immediately killed. After this I kept 

 three females, wishing to secure eggs, but as no other male made its 

 appearance I was disappointed, although the moths I was keeping laid 

 batches of eggs, two of which I threw away, thinking, of course, that 

 they were infertile, and the other batch Avould have shared a like fate 

 had it not been deposited upon the side of a box in which I had other 

 pupte. Judge of my surprise when, on May 6th, I found that larvfB 

 were emerging therefrom, and these identical larvse are still feeding. 

 As I kept the pupae in a securel^'-fastened box with a glass lid, no 

 male could have had access. I shall be curious to see if this power of 

 reproduction will extend to the next generation." 



A case of parthenogenesis is rejiorted by Mr. J. A. Watson {Enfoni., 

 vol. XV., pp. 261-2) to have occurred in Anarta myrtUli. The record 

 reads as follows : — " Having noticed what to me is a curious tlung, I 

 venture to send you tlie following note : - A few weeks ago my son 

 (aged four j^ears) brought me a ])upa of Anarta ini/riilli, which he had 

 found in the road, and 1 put it in a tin box to jjlease him, tliinking it 

 would not survive the pressure it had received, as it was nearly Hat. 

 To-day, the 4th July, recpiiring a box for collecting, on opening 

 the lid I saw the remains of the imago of A. v>i/rfil1i and the 

 eggs it had deposited on the side of the box, \\ith dust at 



