82 THE entomologist's record. 



Scudder says that he thinks there is little doubt that my interpreta- 

 tion is sound. I have so far had no opportunity of making the 

 observations myself, but being reminded that Mr. Nicholson had bred 

 many specimens of T. medcsicaste and some var. honuratii, I took an 

 opportunity of asking him what his observations had shown. He 

 writes from Lewes, September 25th, 1895 : — " In reference to the 

 pupa of Thais, I regret to say that, owing to some extent to my larva; 

 pupating when I have been travelling or collecting all day, I have 

 never carefully watched the process all through. There is, however, no 

 doubt but that what you state on pp. 125-126 of the Ent. Bee, vol. vi., 

 is correct, and that the ' nose silk ' is merely the girth band caught 

 up by the special appendages of the ' nose.' Out of a large batch of 

 larva) a certain proportion fail to shift the girth band, which then 

 remains round the body of the pupa, as in Papilio, throughout the 

 pupal existence. With others, again, the nose appendages fail to catch 

 the band, and the pupa then hangs helplessly, supported by the pad of 

 silk at the tail, as in the Nymphalids. It does not, however, look at 

 home in this position. The shifting of the band is, I believe, effected 

 by contortions of the pupa soon after the larval skin has been dis- 

 carded. On two different occasions I have had upwards of 100 larvtU 

 at the same time of T. vwdi'simstf." Those who have tried to 

 make careful observations on larva) when travelling, or even to breed 

 any larvae at all under such circumstances, and still more those who, 

 like myself, regard it as hopeless, and do not even attempt it, will not 

 be prepared to make complaint that Mr. Nicholson did not watch the 

 process all through. I think it is probable, though Mr. Nicholson 

 does not hint that it is so, that to the jolting and other inconveniences 

 to Avhich his larva) were probably subjected at critical periods, we owe 

 it that he found so many unal)le to complete the suspension in 

 a normal manner, and so illustrated the process by their failure, about 

 as well as if they had actually been observed right through. It is 

 improbable that any large proportion fail to catch the girth on the 

 nose hooks under natural circumstances. This is, of course, merely 

 my supposition, to be taken for what it is worth. — T. A. Chapman, 

 M.D., Firbank, Hereford. October Ist, 1895. 



An unusually late emergence of Phorodesma smaragdaria. — 

 On August 31st I went down to the Essex marshes for the larvfD of 

 P. sniaraijdaria, and found them very abundant — two of us getting 

 many examples in a short time. Among them I noticed one which 

 seemed nearly full-fed, being altogether different in size from the rest. 

 This one pupated on September 4th, on the side of a cage in which I 

 had temporarily placed the larva\ It made a very slight cocoon, so 

 slight indeed, that in a couple of days the pupa fell through and hung 

 down, suspended only by the anal hooks. The pupa was put into a 

 glass-bottomed box, and taken indoors. The weather being very hot, 

 I breathed each morning and evening on the inside of the glass to 

 keep a somewhat moist atmosphere. In about ten days I noticed a 

 change, and the green colour of the insect was soon seen through the 

 pupa case. On the 26th, between 8 and 9 a.m., the perfect insect 

 emerged a somewhat small male. This is, I believe, an unique occurrence 

 as regards this species, the imagines of Avhich have hitherto invariably 

 been bred in the spring. Did the larva belong to this year's ova, and 

 was it so favourably circumstanced as to feed up rapidly and forego 



