18 [June, 



seen that the main thictness of the shell is of one colour and texture, and that the 

 white belts are very thin and superficial. The coloration would seem to be produced 

 by the effusion of some gummy fluid in the ends of the cocoon, which extends through 

 the substance of the silk by capillary attraction. The whole inside has a varnished 

 appearance. 



The spinneret of the larva of S. rumicis is anal ; the silk issues in a very thick 

 clear transparent thread, which eventually becomes reddish-brown. The pupa in 

 the cocoon is sometimes very active, making three or four evolutions on its long axis, 

 now in one direction, and again in the opposite. It seems to be excited to activity 

 when brought near the light. K. and S. mention the same thing of S. arator (vol. 

 ii, pp. 294, 5). 



I have reared many beetles of Clonus scropJiuIaricB from the grub, and found its 

 cocoons in great abundance on Scrophularia nodosa. I am therefore at a loss to 

 understand the statement already quoted from Westwood, apparently on the authority 

 of Schaffer, that " the cocoon is formed with open meshes like that of the Ilyperce." 

 All those which I have seen were close and membranous, of the kind described in 

 K. and S., vol. iii, p. 227. The substance seems even thicker and tougher than that 

 of Zygana filipendula. These cocoons are prolate spheroids, lemon-shaped, but not 

 pointed at the ends, and are sparsely covered in the middle region with raised whitish 

 " goose-skin " points, which appear to be produced by the subsequent filling up of 

 small openings loft in the original making of the cocoon. A cocoon seen in the un- 

 finished state would present cribriform openings, but would not even then be like 

 the network cocoon of Sypera. In about a fortnight the domes beetle cuts a cir- 

 cular lid out of one end, which either falls off or is pushed open as a hinge, and 

 out of this opening the imago emerges, not always without some effort and difiicul :y. 

 In the case of those pupating without a cocoon, most perished. The pupae at first 

 are extremely delicate, almost like transparent glass ; become greenish or whitish 

 and opaque after some time ; and, if exposed to too dry an atmosphere, both pupation 

 and the exclusion of the imago are rendered impossible, or difiicult. Therefore, I 

 imagine a close membranaceous cocoon is a necessity. — J. A. Osboene, Milford, 

 Letterkenny : April, 1879. 



Great flight of beetles. — On Saturday, May 3rd, a flight of small beetles fell on 

 the water and banks of the Crinan Canal at Cairn Baan, in Argyllshire. The flight 

 extended for about a mile, or perhaps rather less, up and down the canal, just oppo- 

 site the Cairn Baan Hotel. The weather was calm, though cold, but at 1 p m. a 

 whirlwind or storm suddenly arose, and at once ruffled the surface of the canal. 

 Some persons at a distance observed a dark cloud hanging over the spot. When the 

 storm had passed, the people about saw myriads of beetles on the water-banks and 

 roads. Some of the insects were struck with violence against the windows of a 

 cottage, and startled the inmates. The description given of the appearance on the 

 surface of the canal was " as if some one had strewed the water with corn ;" others 

 said " it was like stones on the water, and they wondered how the stones got there, 

 and why they did not sink." 



They were swept away from the doorways and paths, and even to-day (May 13th) 

 there are a good many left in the corners of the loch and by the edge of the canal. 

 One man said that it would not have taken long to get a barrowful. Some little 



