l02 f&E ENTOMOLOOIST. 



wings. Under side of hind wings yellowish white, tinged with 

 orange, with all the nervures strongly bordered with brown, as is 

 also a fold so strongly marked as to look like an additional sub- 

 median nervure below the medial ; costal area and basal cell 

 orange. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Earlier Publication of the ' Entomologist.' — Several of our 

 supporters who are not prepaid subscribers have complained from time 

 to time that they are not able to get their copies of this journal until 

 about the end of the first week in the month. To obviate this difficulty 

 in the future, we have determined to publish on the usual magazine 

 day, i.e., the 25th instead of, as hitherto, the last day of the month. 

 Country booksellers should, therefore, henceforth receive the ' Entomo- 

 logist' with the other "monthlies." Under this new arrangement, the 

 latest date for Exchange Lists will be the 22nd of each month. 



On the Cocoon of Epinephele ianira. — In dealing with another 

 subject I casually referred (ante, p. 23) to the cocoon of Epinephele 

 ianira, and did so in a way no doubt to suggest that ianira always 

 made a cocoon. This is of course not the case. E. ianira makes a 

 cocoon very rarely ; it often, however, does some spinning that is in 

 its essential nature a cocoon, and rarely perhaps fails to do a little more 

 than make merely such a pad as Vanessa urtica; or A.j^iplda does. My 

 casual reference, therefore, if taken au pied de la leilre, requires modifi- 

 cation and apology, the latter more especially, as after I had written it 

 I let it go, thinking, somewhat maliciously perhaps, it might in some 

 degree awaken some of those to whom the fact was new, little 

 suspecting that my friend Mr. Frohawk was of the number (ante, p. 

 66). As a matter of fact, my really careless allusion, made and 

 intended to be taken rather loosely, is more correct than Mr. Frohawk's 

 point-blauk assertion to the contrary. This species is indeed in this 

 matter most interesting. Certain SatyrinaB — Satyrus semele for example 

 —have lost the power of hanging themselves by the tail, and make 

 something that is perhaps fully entitled to be called a cocoon. E. 

 ianira has made some advance in this direction. The power of 

 suspension is so far dwindling that, the cremaster being badly provided 

 with hooks, the larval skin is retained to assist the suspension. It also 

 very usually pulls together several grass stems or other adjacent objects, 

 and ties them together with silken cables, so as to form a tent around 

 the stem selected for suspension. It is rare to find none, or so few as 

 One such cable. Such a structure is no doubt, as I have said, in its 

 essential nature a cocoon. On one occasion, and when I was inclined 

 to restrict the name cocoon to some such structure as is made by 

 Saturnia carpini or Arciia caia, I met with an instance of E. ianira 

 making what I felt obliged to call a cocoon. In the autumn of 1886 

 the late Mr. Hellins, who was working up the butterfly material 

 required to complete the histories left imperfect in the volume of 

 Buckler's 'Larvse,' sent me larvas of E. ianira. It would appear that I 

 forced some of these, and on Jan. 20th, 1887, I wrote him : — " I have 



