^1910.] 



137 



NOTES ON CETONIA AURATA, L., AND C. FLOBICOLA, Herbst. 



BY A. H. HAMM. 



C. AURATA, L. 



. During a brief visit to the New Forest in August, 1908, mv son 

 and I came across some fairly large Lamellicorn larvae. They were 

 feeding upon the fragments of damp dead wood, at the foot of what 

 had once been a very fine beech, now, alas ! reduced to a mere stump, 



situated at the far end 

 of Queen's Bower, near 

 Brockenhurst. A few 

 of the largest were 

 placed in a tin box with 

 a suificient supply of the 

 dead wood to enable them 

 to arrive at maturity. 

 Upon reaching home 

 several of the smaller 

 individuals were put 

 into spirit, Init five ex- 

 amples of the same size 

 and apparent age were 

 kept alive for future 

 study. The larvae con- 

 tinued feeding until 

 quite late into the 

 autumn. They then 

 buried themselves in the 

 accumulation of frass 

 and hibernated until the following spring. Towards the end of March 

 they again commenced feeding and continued to do so without inter- 

 mission until mid-June, when four of them built from their excreta, &c., 

 oval cocoons about the size of a good-sized hazel-nut. On August 19th 

 the first emerged, another on the 23rd, and the remaining two on the 

 25th. By this last date four out of the five larvae had produced perfect 

 specimens of Cetonia aurata. The remaining larva continued feedino- 

 until some time in October, and finally hibernated as before. The four 

 imagines, after emergence, were left in the tin box with the remaining 

 larva. These at the beginning of September "buried themselves at the 

 bottom of the box and remained perfectly motionless, with all their 

 limbs tightly adpressed to the body, Tintil the beginning of April. 



X U. 



C. FLORICOLA. 



