THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 56l 



The eggs in a virgin queen bee may, therefore, be said to 

 be already partially fecundated, — sufficiently so to produce 

 males or drones ; but they must be more thoroughly vitalized, 

 by the direct male influence, before the female sex can be 

 stamped upon them. Even here, however, the sex is not 

 changed after the deposition of the eggs, and it is not the 

 influence of food which produces the change. 



Though I believe that the evidence is against Mrs. Treat's 

 conclusion, I hope she will continue her experiments, with 

 that thoroughness and exactness of which she is capable. 

 Nature's contrivances for the maintenance of life in all its 

 wonderful and varied phases are inexhaustible, and we are 

 ever laying down rules and theoretical laws, only to find them 

 violated and upset, as we more truly interpret her ways. She 

 is as watchful of the myriad invisible atoms that mantle o'er 

 the pond with green, or of the unseen swarms that fill the air, 

 "though one transparent vacancy it seems," as she is of the 

 higher forms of life. Plastic, she conforms in every con- 

 ceivable and inconceivable way to the wants of her immense 

 family. She shows us — 



" The ant's reiniblic and the I'ealm of bees; 

 How those iu common all their stores bestow, 

 And anarchy without confusion know ; 

 And these forever, the' a monarch reign, 

 Their separate cells and properties maintain," 



and calls loudly on us to read aright and solve her yet many 

 untold secrets. 



Chas. V. Riley. 



Entomological Notes, Captures, Sfc. 



Larva of Sphinx Convolvuli (Entora. vi. .545). — I think the 

 answer to Mr. Mond's query in the last number of the 'Ento- 

 mologist' about the food-plant of the larva of Sphinx Con- 

 volvuli is an unsatisfactory one, and as but little is known 

 about this caterpillar in England I send a translation of Dr. 

 Boisduval's description of it. He says : — " This larva varies 

 greatly, not only in the markings, but also in the ground 

 colour, which is sometimes of a bright green, sometimes of a 



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