82 THE EtJTOMOLOGIST^S RECORD. 



perform the operation of eating tlieir way out of tlie sliell, but generally 

 much less time is occupied. In those cases in which the fully-formed 

 larva remains in the egg-shell for a very considerable time, it usually 

 passes the winter thus before hatching. It is on record that, in certain 

 parts of Continental Europe, Lencovia salicis hybernates as an egg ; in the 

 South of England it hybernates as a very small larva. If the climatic 

 conditions were such as to preclude autumnal hatching, one can readily 

 understand that species, which normally hybernate as larvse of exceed- 

 ingly small size, might still hybernate as larvae — but inside the egg- 

 shell instead of outside it. The adult larva of Stauropus fagi is, perhaps, 

 the most peculiar of all lepidopterous larvae ; the hatching of the young 

 larva, and its appearance when newly hatched, are equally striking and 

 peculiar. Mrs. Bazett, writing of this hatching {Ent. Bee, vol. ii., p. 

 210), says : — " Presently a minute black spot appears, it gets larger, and 

 with a glass you can see the head of the insect eating round the shell 

 till the hole is large enough, when out bursts the head and two pairs of 

 long prolegs like those of an ant, and with this it wriggles about till 

 one segment after another comes out, and it then looks far more like an 

 ant than anything else ; these legs are for ever on the move, and the 

 head rocks from side to side. First it eats its egg-shell, then sleeps, and 

 walks about in search of food." 



2. — On the newly-hatched larva. — At the time that the lepi- 

 dopterous larva escapes from the egg, it possesses true insect characters. 

 Its body is made up of a series of rings or segments, containing the 

 muscular, digestive, circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems. It 

 breathes by means of trachea?, which are fine tubes composed of an 

 elastic membrane, and kept open by a spiral structure which passes 

 throughout their whole length. The number of the segments in the 

 head is not at all distinctly marked, the four, which are seen pretty 

 distinctly in the early embryonic stage, being now welded together into 

 an almost inseparable whole. Although the first three body-segments 

 are assigned to the thorax, there is no Avell-marked separation between 

 the thoracic and abdominal regions. A close inspection of the seg- 

 ments comprising these parts of the body, however, usually discloses 

 some distinct characters in the appendages, either as to structure 

 or arrangement, or both. The skin of the newly-hatched larva 

 is very soft, but it quickly becomes hai'der, owing to the solidifi- 

 cation of the horny substance called chitin in the outer cuticle. 

 Most newly-hatched larvae have a somewhat colourless and transparent 

 skin when just out of the egg, and the rajDid hardening of the cuticle is 

 frequently accompanied by the production of a difi"erence in colour, and 

 b}^ the development of the distinct markings which are characteristic of 

 the larval cuticle, so that an almost colourless larva may, within an hour 

 of hatching, become almost black. This hardening does not aflPect 

 the sutures, and the intersegmental membranes allow the segments to 

 move freely on each other. The almost (or quite) complete obliteration 

 of the sutures of the head segments has already been referred to, and 

 this makes the head appear superficially to be only one segment. Still, 

 the newly-hatched larva of Pararge megaera shows a peculiar develop- 

 ment, the last head-segment bearing four typical trapezoidal tubercles, 

 arranged as a tra})ezoid and with the usual hairs. The marks on the 

 other segments appear to have the same significance, and there can be 

 no doubt, I think, that this points to the segments of the head as having 



