2 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



cowslip, being scarce around here, I was obliged to have 

 recourse to primrose, not a very distant relative certainly. 

 On this plant the larvae did remarkably well, and on the 24th 

 of July seven had changed to pupae, the others changing iu 

 due course. At this date (Nov. 12th) they are all looking 

 well, and will, I have little doubt, produce the perfect insect 

 the end of next May or beginning of June. — J. Prislo ; 

 Alverstove, IVhippingham, Isle of Wight. 



Note on Acherontia Atropos, 8fc. — Out of seventeen pupae 

 of Atropos which my neighljour Mr. Nickisson and I have in 

 our possession between us, one imago only has appeared up 

 to this time, and that, although perfect in every other respect, 

 had the wings crippled and undeveloped. Being thus unfit 

 for a cabinet specimen, I took it over to my neighbour, the 

 Rev. W. Houghton (whose name you probably know well), 

 to examine with his microscope, in order to ascertain not 

 only its sex, but whether, if a male, there was any structural 

 imperfection corresponding to barrenness in the female, or 

 which would in any way support the notion that all the 

 autumn specimens are incomplete by reason of their hasty 

 development. The following is his written report : — " The 

 specimen, though dwarfed, is a male, and I see nothing ab- 

 normal in the structure of the genital organs. The bulb-like 

 testes characteristic of the Lepidoptera were full of active 

 spermatozoa." With respect to Mr. Greene's observation 

 (Entom. .325) on my question, " Is not this the only species 

 of Lepidoptera in which the female appears first ? " I beg 

 merely to repeat my question, with reference of course to 

 Lepidoptera in a state of nature^ not in the abnormal con- 

 dition of captivity, I was not aware that the appearance of 

 the female first was common even in captivity, and I still 

 believe that in a state of nature the reverse is the rule, at any 

 rate with the butterflies and many of the most noticeable 

 moths. I should be glad to learn the experience of others 

 on this point ; for surely our aim should be to discover, as 

 far as possible, in the case of Atropos or other species, what 

 is the rule of appearance, in a general way, in a state of 

 nature. By way of an example, can any of your readers 

 inform me whether the females of E. versicolor appear first 

 in captivity, as my experience certainly tells me that, at 

 liberty, the male of that species appears first ? — [/?ey.] Percy 



