234 THE entomologist's record. 



As soon as its wings were dry 1 placed it in the box with the J 

 tiliae. Although I had small hope of getting them to pair, I resolved 

 to try. Late the same evening I was very pleased to observe the 3 

 poyuli evidently endeavouring to pair. When I looked at them about an 

 hour afterwards they were, as far as could be seen, successfully paired. 

 This was about 10 p.m. The ova were deposited during the afternoon 

 and evening of June 19th, the $ dying the same night. On examining 

 the ova this morning (July 2nd), with the aid of an ordinary lens, I 

 could detect a larva in nearly all of them. If the egg which I am 

 sending you fails to hatch, and I am successful with any of the others, 

 I shall be very pleased to send some of the young larvae. It would be 

 interesting to know if the eg'^ shows any departure from the normal 

 type, but I can find no description of the QgQ of tiliae, beyond the 

 rather brief one by Mr. Bacot, in the Eni. Bee, vi., 17B, and 

 another, still more slight, in Hofmann's Die Iianjirn, p. 30. — W. 

 Grovek, Kent Villa, Harvey Road, Guildford. JiiJy lud, 1897. 



On the wing expansion of Zyg-t:na trifolii-major. — On the 

 morning of July 14th, at 9.15 a.m., I found an imago of Z. ttifolii- 

 major attempting to escape from a pupa that I had taken from the 

 cocoon, for the purpose of description, the previous day. Dehiscence 

 had already commenced, but the pupa was rolling helplessly on the 

 smooth surface of a tin box in its endeavour to continue the operation. 

 I immediately took it in hand, and, gently helping the lines of 

 dehiscence with a pin, until the first pair of legs were free, I held the 

 pupa firmly by the abdominal segments whilst the imago made its 

 escape, which it did in about five minutes from the commencement of 

 my taking it in hand, after several vermiform movements, very 

 distinctly noticeable as they ran along the abdominal segments, not 

 only by the eye, but also by the fingers holding the pupa. Some 

 three minutes were occupied before the imago settled down for wing- 

 expansion. After about three minutes longer, it was observed that 

 the hind-wings were growing rapidly, each forming an arch concave 

 to the surface on which the insect was resting, and to which, roughly, 

 the wings were at first parallel. This continued till the hind-wings 

 had attained almost their full size, and extended far beyond the fore- 

 wings. At this point, the wings were thrown back to back, and the 

 two pairs formed two arching curves, the convexity towards each 

 other. The fore-wings now expanded rapidly from the base outwards, 

 until they had extended beyond the hind-wings, which were becoming 

 flatter. The outer margin of the fore-wings was still much wrinkled, 

 and it took five minutes more for the last creases to be removed. 

 The hind-wings had by this time quite lost their convexity, and the 

 fore-wings met at that point of the costa to which the hind-wings 

 extended ; the apices of the fore-Avings separating again. The 

 apices, however, gradually approached each other as the wings became 

 hardened. Ten minutes afterwai'ds, the wings were allowed to fall 

 roofwise over the body. The operation was complete, and from the 

 time of the escape of the moth had occupied rather more than 30 

 minutes. There is a rapid movement of the tongue, which is 

 repeatedly coiled and partially uncoiled during the early part of the 

 wing-expansion. The male exudes a quantity of a pale-yellowish 

 opaque fluid as soon as disturbed. [All the moths emerged between 

 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.] .—J. W. Tutt. 



