94 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
sugar mixture, of which it freely partook. On the following day 
(the 18th) it deposited four eggs, and added twenty-four on the 
19th, twenty-three on the next day, thirty-one on the next, and 
four on the 22nd. The fertile eggs in twenty-four hours changed 
to a chocolate colour; but about half of the whole proved to be 
barren. The first larva emerged on July 27th. Unfortunately at 
the end of that month I had to leave home for four days, so the 
young brood had to take their chance upon a small branch of 
birch placed in water and covered with a glass. Upon my return 
only nineteen were alive; two of these were of the dark variety. 
By September 2nd they were full fed: I then tendered them some 
pieces of cork and blocks of half-decayed wood; seventeen preferred 
the latter, while two took the former. In examining their holes I 
thought it worthy of remark, that after the larva has entered a 
little way it turns off at an angle, the pupa remaining at the 
extreme end, so that it is well provided for against the intrusion 
of birds or other enemies. Three imagines appeared the next 
year; the first on June 17th, and the last on July 5th. I then 
tried to force the remainder; but although they were kept for 
three weeks in a very warm temperature they would not yield to 
the treatment, and were ultimately removed to a cooler place to 
see what 1878 would produce. The first half of June in that year 
was unusually cold and damp, but in the latter part of the month 
the weather became excessively hot: the result was that nine 
moths came out between the 12th and 28th. The next did not 
appear till July 6th, 1879, another on the 9th, and one more on 
the 12th, which completed a total of fifteen. Upon opening one 
of the blocks last November I discovered that a pupa was still 
alive; however it has since died. In another instance I found a 
dead moth partly out; but owing to another larva having pupated 
in front of the same it could not escape. Should it be thought 
that in a natural state this species only requires heat and moisture 
to annually produce a full brood, I would point to the fact that 
they were placed under these circumstances in 1878; but between 
the 21st and 30th of June only five came out, while the dreadful 
cold and wet days from the 6th to the 12th of last July also yielded 
three specimens. It also happened to be the exact number which 
attained their perfect condition during the first year of their 
existence.—H. 'T’. Dosson, jun.; New Malden, Surrey, February 
23, 1880. 
