■^QQ Insecta. 



behave in a very different way. The larva constructs a tube of strong closely- 

 woven silk, to the outer side of which adheres earth, etc. Two-thirds of this 

 tube project downwards into the earth, while the reniaining one-third lies hori- 

 zontally on the surface of the ground or among dead leaves. It widens at the 

 upper end and opens freely, and at the lovver end also it opens into the earth. 

 When the larva is full-grown the tube is 10 to 15 cm. long and its lower end is 

 widened into a pupal cell. When the larva pupates it constructs within this cell 

 a cocoon of fine-matted silk resembling that of niany Hymenoptera: this cocoon 

 fits closely inside the cell. It is very remarkable that while the cocoon is pro- 

 tected all round its sides by the thick walls of the cell, yet at the bottom, 

 where the tube is open to the earth, it is quite exposed to the soil. When the 

 moth emerges, the top of the cocoon is pushed up like a box-lid. 



The larvae feed only at night. The food is said to consist of dead leaves 

 and other dead vegetable matter, but in captivity this did not entirely satisfy the 

 larvae. When removed from their tubes, the larvae were unable to crawl on a 

 flat surface or to regain their tubes without help. When dissatisfied with their 

 food in captivity, they constructed branching tubes, which were never found 

 under natural conditions. H. Scott (Cambridge). 



248) Chapmail, T. A., On the shedding of the cornuti in Pyrausta 

 aurata Sc. In: Ent. Record and Journ. Variation, Bd. 25, Heft 4, S. 106 — 108, 

 Taf. 4—7, 1913. 



In this moth the eversible "vesica" of the <S is of very great length, and 

 possesses at one point (which in quiescence is accomodated w-ithin the aedoeagus) 

 an armature of "cornuti", consisting of one larger and several smaller spines, the 

 form of which is described in some detail. After pairing tliese cornuti are found 

 to have disappeared from the cT genitalia, having been left in one of the sacs 

 associated with the bursa copulatrix of the $. The tube leading from the $ ex- 

 ternal orifice to the bursa is extremely long and convoluted, so that it is hard 

 to see how the J" cornuti penetrate so far into the ? organs. The author believes 

 that this is brought about by the evagination of the vesica of the J" to a great 

 length. The cT tube is a perfect tube without true orifices, invaginated into it- 

 self, the apparent orifice being the point at which it is doubled into itself [in 

 this it resembles the d genital tube of Coleoptera]: it penetrates the long tube 

 of the $ by the evagination of its inner, or doubled in, portion, and by this eva- 

 gination the cornuti are brought right into the $ bursa. When the <S tube is 

 withdrawn by re-invagination into itself, the cornuti are left behind in the $. 

 Other moths are known in which structures of a similar nature are transferred 

 from c? to $. H. Scott (Cambridge). 



249) Champion, G. C, Notes on various Central American Coleoptera, with 

 descrijitions of new genera and species. In: Trans. Ent. Soc. London, Heft 1, 

 S. 58—169, Taf. 3, i, 1913. 



This is an important systematic paper, which is noted here chiefly on account of 

 its being a Supplement to a very great work, the Biologia Centrali-Americana of 

 Godman and Salvin. The Section of that great work dealing with Coleoptera was 

 completed in 1911, 18 volumes having been required for the enumeration of 18,039 spe- 

 cies. The present paper deals with rejected and overlooked material, together with 

 certain Mexican, Guatemalan, and Antillean forma It euumerates a large number of 

 forms, all belonging to the Clavicorn and Serricorn series excejiting certain Tenebrioni- 

 dae, Othniidae, and Psephenidae. 106 species are additions to the fauna, and 89 of 

 these are described as new. H. Scott (Cambridge). 



