NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. l-Sl 



picked up a larva of Chelonia caja, which after being in a warm 

 room three days spun up, and changed to pupa on the 20th. 

 When found it did not exceed one inch in length, and was without 

 the long hairs so characteristic of the species when more than 

 half-grown. The pupa, which is rather smaller than that of 

 Callimorpha dominula, is suspended in an unusually thin web. — 

 Sydney Webb ; 3, Luther Terrace, Dover, March 27, 1882. 



Retarded Development of Saturnia carpini. — In the 

 year 1879 I reared a batch of Saturnia carpini from eggs. 

 Most of these emerged in due course the following spring 

 (1880). Five took another year to complete their metamor- 

 phosis ; no unusual occurrence with this species. Expecting 

 no more imagines from my cocoons I deposited them all in a 

 box, and placed them on a shelf in my little room for odds and 

 ends of this sort. On April 28th of the present year I heard 

 a noise proceeding from this box, and on opening found two per- 

 fectly developed males. On the following day a female appeared. 

 I was surprised at the lack of gallantry manifested towards her 

 by the former ; they ignored her existence. Wanting eggs I 

 exposed her on the heath, thinking that a younger and more 

 ardent generation of males would not be so indifferent to the 

 mature charms of my interesting female ; but to my disappoint- 

 ment no free-born male would be induced to bestow any of those 

 delicate attentions which the males are usually so eager to lavish 

 on the fair sex ; and after six days of marked neglect she died, 

 without having an opportunity of fulfilling any of the functions of 

 her existence. Is it possible that she had reached a period of life 

 in some way analogous to the aged among the higher animals? It 

 is a well-known fact that some isolated specimens among the 

 Bomhycidce pass several years in the pupa state, the delay being 

 attributed to some unfavourable atmospheric condition occurring 

 just at the time of emergence. This does not appear to me a 

 satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon of retarded, or rather 

 suspended, development. Heat naturally existing or artificially 

 applied accelerates emergence up to a certain point, after which it 

 is not only powerless, but actually destructive to life. It is scarcely 

 credible that individuals in a batch of larvse exposed to precisely 

 the same temperature, and similarly treated in every respect, 

 should have their development arrested for some three or more 

 years beyond the rest on any heat theory. Is it not more 



