1914]. 201 



Cratichneiimon dissimilis, Grav., for me by Mr. Claude Morley, were 

 bred on May 1st. 



Practically all the B. piniarius emerged between about 6 and 

 8 a.m. ; in a quarter of an hour, the wings had doubled in size, and 

 were held more or less vertically ; in another quarter of an hour, they 

 were full- sized, and in an hour from emergence, normal in appearance. 



Fourteen of the ? ? were kept under as close observation as time 

 would allow. In most cases g $ of known ages were confined with 

 the $ $ , the pairs being in boxes of various kinds, and their behaviour 

 watched before, during, and after pairing, and the hour and duration 

 of the latter, as well as the details of oviposition noted. 



In one case only of those watched did copulation take place 

 during the first night after emergence, nor was this the case, so far as 



1 know, in any of the remainder. During the first evening and the 

 next day the as yet unfertilised $ was often observed apparently to 

 go through the motions of oviposition, feeling the underside of a 

 pine needle with the extended tip of the abdomen. It seems probable 

 that these movements sexually excite the $ , as although he may have 

 already been clambering about over the $ without paying her the 

 slightest attention, in three of the four cases of copulation actually 

 seen, the ? had immediately before, been acting in this manner. At 

 other times, the <$ was observed attempting to find the tip of the 

 abdomen of the ? with his own, opening and shutting the anal 

 claspers, but either the $ fluttered away, or the <$ fell away and 

 almost at once gave up the attempt to find his partner. 



Insufficient data were collected to show whether the absence of 

 pairing on the first night was due to immaturity of either sex, but in 

 the one case under accurate observation, and one other, where it did 

 take place, the <$ was several (4) days older than the ? . In one ex- 

 periment, copulation took place at 0.30 p.m., but between 10.0 p.m. and 



2 a.m. was the usual time. The immediate indifference of the <$ once 

 in copula to the otherwise very powerful stimulus of light was very 

 noticeable. 



The recorded times <$ and $ remained in copula were 3£, 3|, 3|, 

 and between 3 and 4 hours respectively. One pair were more or less 

 forcibly persuaded to separate after 20 mins. to see the resultant effect 

 on the fertility of the ? (c/. infra) . 



The shortest time from the beginning of copulation to the laying 

 of the first egg was &\ hours or 2f hours after the separation of the 



