106 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ing they would hybernate in that stage, I left them undisturbed ; 

 but subsequently nothing more was seen of them. 



It will be seen from the above descriptions taken from my 

 note-book (which corroborate Mr. Farn's note in the last number 

 of the 'Entomologist,' p. 92) that the larva described by Mr. 

 Nevinson does not at all correspond to the larvae of Lyccena 

 avion which I had under observation. 



April 3rd, 1899. 



ON NEW SPILOSOMA HYBRIDS.* 

 By A. v. Caradja. 



Spilosoma mendica, L. hybr. crassa, Caradja (PI. ix. f. 1-4). 

 This form originated from a pairing between S. mendica hybr. 

 standfussi, Car. $ and S. sordida ? 



The hybrid form standfussi I described in the ' Societas 

 Entomologica,' 1894, p. 49 : it originated from a cross-breeding 

 of S. mendica female with male of var. rustica, Hiib. Spilosoma 

 mendica, L., hybr. viertli, Caradja (PL ix. f. 5-11), which I dedi- 

 cate to my friend Herr Hauptmann Adalbert Viertl, originated 

 from a combination of S. mendica, var. rustica $ and S. 

 sordida ? 



_ By crossing hybr. standfussi $ and sordida ? eight fruitful 

 pairings were obtained ; the contrary crossings of S. sordida $ 

 and hybr. standfussi $ , as well as of S. sordida $• and var. rustica 

 2 , were unfruitful. 



Of the sixteen to seventeen thousand ova of the nine broods 

 obtained, all acquired at the sixth day a darker colouring, a sure 

 sign that they were fertilized ; and this was further confirmed 

 by a supplementary observation of the same ova previous to 

 hatching, for in these the development of the tiny larvae was 

 more or less advanced. 



From each of the nine broods, in about equal numbers, only 

 12-13 per cent, of the larvae actually hatched out ; a greater 

 number had begun to bite through the egg-shell, so that the 

 head-shield was already to be seen at the smaller opening, but 

 most of the larvae had not the strength to break through the 

 egg-shell. Of the larvae that hatched, about 25 per cent, did not 

 touch the food at all, and died. The others proved themselves 

 to be healthy, and developed normally up to the pupation later 

 on. The larvae grew up very irregularly, some requiring only 

 forty-eight days, others seventy-two to seventy-six, the majority 

 finding sixty days ample for their development from the egg to 

 the pupa. I obtained altogether twelve healthy pupae of the 

 hybrid crassa and 114 of the hybrid viertli. To my regret, the 



* « Iris,' x. pp. 371-373, pi. ix. figs. 1-11. (Translated by G. W. Kirkaldy.) 



