\Q2, [December, 



from the fact that the brancliial filaments are then all in strong action, for, instead of 

 radiating as they do in repose, they become depressed a little, and point forwards in 

 the direction of the head. 



As to their method of feeding, I noticed that the smaller larvce ate only the 

 green cuticle from the leaves, thus bleaching them ; but the larger ones ate completely 

 through the leaves, cutting out circular pieces : when frass was ejected, the dark 

 alimentary canal was seen suddenly to lose its contents as far back as the beginning 

 of the tliird segment from the anal extremity (that is the eleventh segment counting in 

 the usual way), and to discharge them with such great velocity that the frass was 

 carried about an inch outside the opening of the silken residence, the larva having 

 first moved backwards to the opening, and afterwards retiring within to its former 

 place. I found in each of the above-mentioned bottles, every morning, at the same 

 distance from the web, an accumulation of rejectamenta consisting of small ovate 

 particles of olive-greenish vegetable debris, little changed in colour from that of the 

 plant : in one instance, after cleaning out this accumulation, and supplying fresh 

 water with no apparent disturbance to the larva, I found, at the end of twenty-four 

 hours, it had expelled twenty-six pellets of frass. 



On September 10th, 1874, I had the great satisfaction of breeding one moth 

 from a larva that had spun up in a bottle ; but I got out no more, for, although I 

 had then and previously so many other pupse, yet they, like most of the larvae, seemed 

 standing over for another season ; indeed, two larvse were not much more than half- 

 grown by the 5th October ; up to that date, all seemed going on very well, but, as 

 winter approached, they and the others became somewhat torpid, ceased to feed, and 

 carried on their peculiar motions in a slower manner, at longer intervals, and within 

 webs of more contracted space. 



By January, 1875, the Anacharis had lost nearly every leaf, and the stems all 

 vitality, and a rapid decay ensued, which destroyed all the contents both of the globe 

 and bottles by the end of the month ; and so I was not able to find out whether a 

 second year would have brought out the rest of my stock in the perfect state. 



The general figure of the cocoon of silk in which the pupa of stratiofalis is spun 

 up, is a long oval about five-eighths inch in length by three-sixteenths in width, and 

 gradually widening to the upper end, which is not rounded, but sloped off from above 

 at an obtuse end, thus presenting a somewhat truncated appearance ; it is attached 

 for its whole length, by the back, to a piece of the stem of the food-plant, which affords 

 a strong support, besides being further moored by strong outlying threads from the 

 upper part to the stem ; it is but a little tapered towards the hinder end, which is 

 generally involved amongst some leaves ; I saw some cocoons fixed to two stems ; the 

 colour of the silk is either pale pinkish or flesh colour, inclining to olive anteriorly, 

 and darker greyish-olive behind ; its surface very shining, but it is very opaque, and 

 the pupa cannot be seen through it. The pupa itself is half-an-inch in length, rather 

 slender in proportion, widest from behind the thorax, from whence the abdomen 

 tapers to the rather blunt tip ; the thorax rounds off towards the squarish head ; 

 the eyes large and prominent ; the wing-, antenna- and leg-cases well developed, the 

 latter extending free from the eighth to as far as the end of the twelfth segment ; 

 only three spiracles on either side are distinguishable, viz., on segments six, severi, 

 and eight, but these are large, circular, and projecting considerably like knobs or 

 warts from flic side : at first flie pupa is unieolorous, of a delicate yellowish-flesh 



