1917.] 37 



strouir. Most of the brii^ht red colour has disappeared from the 

 abdomen by the time of the last instar, and has been replaced by a 

 vinous tint. There are no ocelli in any of the larval instars, and the 

 number of antenual joints remains four throughout, and that of the 

 tarsal joints two. Clearly, therefore, the greatest number of morpho- 

 logical changes occur at the last ecdysis, when the insect acquires its 

 wings and ocelli, and increases the number of its antennal joints to five, 

 and of its tarsal joints to three, while at the same time the reproductive 

 organs are perfected and the integument becomes strongly chitinised. 



At each ecdysis the skin splits longitudinally along the middle 

 line of the pro-, meso-, and metanotum, and also transversely along 

 the suture between the head and pronotum, so that the cephalic sclei-ite 

 remains entire, bent forward to the front of the cast skin, the part 

 covering the eyes being separated from it at the sides, while the halves 

 of the dorsal sclerites of the thorax are pushed towai'ds the sides quite 

 free from the head, but remaining attached to the abdominal skin 

 behind, which does not split anywhere. Not only are the limbs and 

 antennae drawn out of their sheaths, but also the rostrum and its 

 setae, and the principal tracheae, especially those that spring from the 

 spiracles. This method of ecdysis holds good for all the Pentatomidae 

 in which I have been able to observe it. It may here be remarked 

 that the cast skins form excellent objectsfor observing the structure of 

 the exoskeleton. 



Adult insects may be found throughout the year ; in fact I have 

 records of captures in every month except February. Copulation 

 takes place in the spring and the (^ shortly afterwards dies. The $ 

 begins to deposit her eggs almost immediately, and the fact that they 

 are placed on the furze flower-buds is good evidence of the time of 

 their deposition. The larvae appear during the summer and generally 

 mature by the beginning of August ; but some may still be found during 

 the rest of the month, and a few stragglers even up to the beginning of 

 October. This seems to imply that batches of eggs are laid at 

 intervals during the summer, as we have seen that those of the same 

 batch are hatched almost simultaneously. The normal time for com- 

 pleting the larval life seems to be about two months. The insects of 

 the year \isually spend their winter in the furze-bushes, the evergreen 

 nature of which affords them the needful shelter. On warm days they 

 bestir themselves and bask in the simshiue (see Ent. Mo. Mag., 

 xxxvii, p. 73), sometimes takinof short flights to the accompaniment 

 of a loud buzzinff of the wincrs. 



