CHERMES LARECIS. 35 



coiled liairs, which, may be traced from the tip of 

 the rostrum of the living insect to the tip of the 

 inverted and discarded sheath. These, in fact, are the 

 three setae found in the oral sheaths of all Aphides. 



The growth of these setae, which uncoiled may be 

 three times the length of the insect itself, is not at 

 all obvious. It is well known that the legs and 

 antennae of Aphides are extricated from their old 

 coverings, even to the last joints, without fracture of 

 the " casts," but in the above case the skin of the 

 rostrum must be turned inside out like the horn of a 

 snail to permit of the continued attachment of the 

 insect to its exuviae. 



The extreme tenuity of these setae would make it 

 seem almost impossible that there could be an eversion ; 

 but Prof. Allman has shown that the still finer urti- 

 cating filaments of some Hydroids are similarly ex- 

 serted, and so rapidly, that the eye quite fails to follow 

 the action. 



I look upon these curious coiled hairs as spring 

 cables to secure the insect from being dislocated from 

 the branches by the rough winds of March. The 

 slough fixed in the bark-crevice acts thus as an anchor. 

 The insects can hardly be removed by friction with a 

 hair pencil. 



By the 4th of March, the queen Aphides, having 

 considerably grown, again shed their skins ; and then 

 they appear of a silvery white spotted with pale 

 brown tubercles. They soon change to a green 

 colour. Two days after another moult is effected, 

 and then I saw six eggs laid whilst under the micro- 

 scope. By the 9th of March twenty-four eggs were 

 laid, the mother not having moved from her first 

 position on a young twig. 



At the moment of oviposition a short and cleft 

 ovipositor is exserted, but I failed in discovering how 

 the eggs are attached to their long pedicles. But the 

 process very likely is similar to that performed by 

 Hemerobius. 



