(237) 



licimifl-fi on cei'tain species of the Lcpidopteroits genus Ophideues, 

 and tlieir crqtetcity for piercing the epicarp of fruits ; b// 

 George L. Pilciiei;. 



Having seen that tlie Moths, Ophideres fuUo>ii(i, materna^ 

 i/nj)eirttor, and salaminia, have been exciting attention, both in 

 England and France, on account of their supposed power of 

 piercing through the rind of oranges, in order to suck the juices 

 of the fruit, I may, I hope, be pardoned for presenting the 

 results of my own observations as regards the conclusions Avhich 

 have been arrived at. 



M. A. Thozet, of Rockhampton, was the author of the letter 

 in the " Rockhampton Bulletin," May, 1875, wdiich is quoted 

 1)()th by Mr. F. Darwin in his paper in the '' Journal Micro- 

 scopical Science," on the Structure of the Proboscis of 0. fuUonia, 

 and also by M. Klinckel in his paper, read by M. Emile 

 Blanchard liefore the French Academy of Sciences, and copied 

 into the " Gardener's Chronicle," though it apj^ears that M. 

 Thozet had written to M. Klinckel on the subject before. 



M. Thozet states " that O. fnllonia punctures the rind of the 

 orange, extracts the juice in the corresponding division of the 

 orange, leaving free access to the air, and withdra\ving the 

 support to the rind, which, of course, sinks as soon as decomposi- 

 tion begins," and the fruit falls. 



Mr. Darwin's and ^I. Kiinckel's remarks are on the structure 

 of the proboscis of the motli, and its adaptation to the facts men- 

 tioned in M. Thozet's letter. 



