324 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ago, SO if the larvse do not make haste thej' must either hybernate 

 or starve. These puppe of V. atalanta must either die or remain 

 so over the winter, which suggests that many of the very fine 

 Vanessidse found in spring may have passed the winter in pupa 

 state, and not hybernated as imagines.— H. Sharp; 37, Union 

 Street, Portland Place, London, October 17, 1885. 



Perforated Ova of Lkpidoptera. — I discovered last year 

 y that the eggs of Dicranura vinula are perforated at the apex by 

 a small orifice, which apparently penetrates through the outside 

 shell, but is covered on the interior of the shell by a thin 

 membrane, resembling that which is found in the eggs of 

 domestic fowls, &c. Though I mentioned the fact at the time to 

 several entomologists, no one seems to have noticed it ; so I 

 carefully noted the discovery, and determined to publish it on 

 the first opportunity. I should be much obliged if any 

 entomologist would let me know whether the eggs of D. bifida 

 and D. furcula are similarly perforated. — Cyril B. Holman 

 Hunt; Draycott Lodge, Fulham, S.W., November 9, 1885. 



P Urtication by Larv^ of Bombyx rubi. — I have just seen a 



^' case of urtication caused by larvae of Bombyx rubi, a number of 

 which have been brought to me by a friend from Devonshire. His 

 hands are covered with small white blisters, and he suffers fi'om 

 inflammatoi-y swelling upon them. This is the first case I have 

 noticed of this species causing this irritation. The effect seems 

 to vary with different individuals, for some seem very sensitive to 

 the urticating power of the hairs, though I have never experienced 

 it, and, so far as I can judge, it has no effect upon me. — H. Sharp ; 

 37, Union Street, Portland Place, London, W., October 17, 1885. 



Sound-producing Larv^. — In reply to ^ir. Clifford's 

 V question, "Can the larva of Acherontia atropos produce a 

 sound"? (Entom. xviii. 801), I can most confidently assert — for 

 I have heard them myself — that the larva, pupa, and imago of 

 this moth have all the power of doing so. The noise made by 

 the larva is a kind of snap, exactly resembling the electric spark. 

 In the case of the pupa and moth it is nearly identical, though 

 in the pupa somewhat fainter, and is a shrill, grating squeak, 

 not unlike that of the dolls which, upon being squeezed, give 

 forth a cry. How this sound is made is still a moot point. I 

 cannot for a moment entertain the idea that the squeaking 



