40 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



I could not discover that oviposition took place in the case of 

 any of the females which I kept in captivity, notwithstanding 

 the fact that one of them was actually observed to pair with a 

 male. Two from Heme Bay were enclosed, either in glass- 

 bottomed boxes, or in the dry fish-globe with grass scattered over 

 the floor. At a later date two Essex females were kept, together 

 with two Essex males, in the same globe after the floor had been 

 covered with an inch or two of dry earth, upon which fresh 

 grass was thrown day by day. At the proper time both the 

 grass and the earth were carefully examined for eggs, but none 

 could be found. One of the captive females was cut open after 

 death, and upwards of a dozen eggs were taken from the 

 abdomen. They were warm brown, elliptical bodies, with a 

 smooth surface, and measuring about 4 mm. in length and 

 1 mm. in width. An egg-mass extracted by Mr. Luvoni from 

 an Essex female taken on August 18th included several quite 

 colourless eggs, as well as a few brown ones. 



In conclusion, I must tender my best thanks to Mr. Luvoni 

 for his readiness in collecting and supplying me with the material 

 upon which much of the present paper is based. 



58, Ranelagh Roatl, Ealing, W. 



HIBERNATION OF PYRAMEIS ATALANTA. 

 By F. W. Frohawk, M.B.O.U., F.E.S. 



Hitherto there appears to be no authentic instance on 

 record of P. atalanta having been found in a state of hibernation 

 in this country; it is, therefore, now a generally recognised belief 

 that this butterfly, like its near ally, P. cardid, does not hibernate 

 in the British Isles. But I am now able to place on record for 

 the first time sufficient reliable evidence to prove that P. atalanta 

 occasionally does successfully hibernate in Britain. 



For the following very interesting facts I am greatly indebted 

 to Captain E. B. Purefoy in supplying me with full data and 

 details, of not only his own observations concerning the hiberna- 

 tion of atalanta, but also the most interesting facts of the 

 observations made by Mr. Walter Barnes of Orpington, Kent. 

 I may mention that Mr. Barnes is an experienced entomologist, 

 therefore I give the facts as stated by him in his letter on the 

 subject : — 



" Three cases of apparent hibernation have come under my 

 observation. The first and most interesting case is that in 

 which one atalanta, two io, and two urticce, were discovered quite 

 accidentally by mj^seif. 



" In cutting back a rose tree which covered the side of the 



