310 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Arctium lappa " ; and on the same page there is a short list of captures 

 by Maling, although he does not mention badiana, yet, curiously 

 enough, he records the very closely allied cnicana ! Is it not possible 

 that Sorhagen may have got a little mixed with the two very 

 similar names — Machin and Maling ? — A. Thurnall; Thornton Heath, 

 November 2nd, 1905. 



Method of Oviposition by Cokdulegaster annulatus. — During a 

 visit to Cornwall in August of this year, I had the opportunity of 

 observing very closely the mode of procedure of Cordulegaster annulatus, 

 Latr., during oviposition. The account given in Lucas's ' British 

 Dragonflies ' reads thus : "The female does this apparently by dipping 

 the tip of her abdomen in the water at random." This is completely 

 borne out by what I saw ; but as I was able to watch the insect at very 

 close quarters for some ten minutes, it seemed that a short account 

 might be of interest. The locality was a spot on the cliffs going from 

 St. Ives to Zennor, shortly after the basalt gives place to the granite. 

 A small stream running across the moorland towards the sea was 

 connected with some small pools of comparatively still water. Whilst 

 hunting for marsh plants by the side of one of these pools a large 

 female Cordulegaster annulatus came to rest upon the wing within a 

 couple of feet of me where I knelt, and after remaining poised upon 

 the wing for a few seconds, suddenly bent the posterior portion of her 

 abdomen at right angles to the anterior portion, and commenced rising 

 and falling on the wing. The end of the abdomen was thus repeatedly 

 thrust into the soft mud at the edge of the pool, the insect rising 

 between each thrust to a height of some six inches. About seventy to 

 seventy-five thrusts were made per minute, and this was continued for 

 nearly ten minutes in the same spot. The female was not accompanied 

 by the male. In depositing its eggs while hovering on the wing, 

 Cordulegaster annulatus, Latr., agrees with Sympetrum striolatum, Charp., 

 S. flaveolum, Linn., S. scoticum, Don., Libellula depressa, Linn., L. 

 quadrimaculata, Linn., and JEschna juncea, Linn. ; but of these, the 

 first three are accompanied by the male insect. In apparently laying 

 its eggs in the mud it agrees with Agrion mercuriale, Charp. — Eric 

 Drabble, D.Sc, F.L.S. ; Hartley Laboratories, The University, 

 Liverpool. 



Prolonged Pupal Stage in Emmelesia unifasciata (Perizoma 

 bifasciata). — Some fifty larvae of Emmelesia unifasciata, collected in 

 the autumn of 1900, (pupated during the latter part of October and 

 the first few days of November of that year. In August, 1901, ten 

 moths emerged ; in 1902, eleven ; in 1903, two only : in 1904, five ; 

 and in 1905, two : these last having thus passed five winters, and 

 in point of time four years and nine months in pupa. No attempt 

 was made to artificially retard emergence, the pupa? having been kept 

 under as nearly natural conditions as may be practicable in confine- 

 ment, the earthen pan containing them remaining out of doors during 

 the whole period, exposed to the weather but sheltered from direct 

 rain, and in a position where it would receive a fair amount of 

 sunshine. It is, I believe, a well-known habit of this species to 

 lie over as a pupa for more than one winter, but it appears to be 

 pretty generally believed that the second or, perhaps, the third year is 



