162 tflB ftNtOMOiX)GIST*S HECOKti. 



and Uroch {Zait. f. iria.s, ZooL, Ivii., 1H98-1894), got no further, 

 in fact, not so far, in relation to the white pigmentary scales as 

 Coverdale and myself got some twelve years ago {lUit. Nort., vol. ii., 

 pp. iii. — xviii.). A brief statement of the general action of alkalies in 

 changing pigments, and of acids in restoring the changed pigments 

 to their original colours, was published by Coverdale {Kntovi.) in 1886. 

 (I'd he continued). 



Paper as a Pabukim for the Larva of Tiresias serra, F. : with some 

 notes on the Larva and its Pupation. 



By HOllACE DONISTIIOia'E, I'.Z.S., i-'.E.S. 



I have just succeeded in rearing a number of Tiresias xena from 

 the larvie, by feeding them on paper. 



The larvae, which were of all sizes, were obtained under loose 

 bark of hawthorn trees, last March, in Kichmond Park, where they are 

 very abundant. J placed them in a collecting bottle which contained 

 some paper, and left them there for a day or two, during which time I 

 was making inquiries as to what to give them to eat. I was told to give 

 them Hies to feed on, which I intended to do, when I discovered they 

 had eaten holes all over the paper which was in the bottle, and so I 

 thought I would try if I could rear them on such food. The experi- 

 ment turned out quite successful, and they conuiienced to pupate in 

 about thrcK; weeks, and the perfect insects began to appear in a little 

 over a fortnight. 



The larva is a very curious animal — it is hairy, like those of all the 

 Deniirstiilar, and has bunches of hair on the last segments of the 

 hind body, with a long tail of hairs at the apex ; these bunches the 

 creature can erect at will, and, when agitated, the tail hairs vibrate 

 very rapidly. It pupates within the larval skin, and, on changing to 

 the imago, it remains within the skin till mature. It is a curious fact 

 that, though the larvae occur in great numbers, and are very common, 

 the perfect insect is decidedly scarce, and is generally found singly. 



An attempt to breed Leucania albipuncta. 



Uy LOUIS 13. i'liOIJT, I'.K.S. 

 On August J-Jlst last, I captured a worn female of the above-named 

 species, at sugar, at Bandown. I placed her in a glass jar, with a sod of 

 grass at the bottom ; and about the dth or oth of Heptembor some ova 

 were deposited, to the number of 82, or thereabouts. These were laid 

 in four fairly regular rows, from sax to twelve in each, three of them 

 on the sides of the glass (very likely, however, under blades of grass, 

 which were torn away in removing the sod), the others between the 

 points of two fine blades of grass, which were glued together by them. 

 This would, probably, be the natural egg-hiying habit of the species. 

 The eggs were of about average size, roimdish, smooth, and of a 

 shiny, Avhitish straw-colour, and I noticed nothing particular to 

 remark in them with the unaided eye. In about eight or nine days 

 they changed to a light, shining grey, and on Heptember 15th and lOth, 

 the larvee hatched (to the number of 2H). These were of a tolerably 

 uniform pale grey, greener in some individuals (? after commencing 



