252 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST, 



Though mauy of the Orthoptera lose their colours hut little 

 in drying, it is unfortunately the case that in some species the 

 colours disappear most dismally after death. The worst two are 

 perhaps Leptoplnies imnctatissima and Conocepltaliis dorsalis, 

 while Pholidoptera griseoaptera and Metrioptera roeselii are 

 serious offenders in this respect. The change seems to be due 

 to some of the contents of the body becoming greasy, and the 

 oily matter diffusing over the insect obscures the colours. To 

 a great extent this result may be prevented by eviscerating the 

 specimens as soon after death as possible. The treatment is as 

 follows : After being pinned on its back by very fine pins through 

 the neck and end of the body, a cut is made along the ventral 

 surface of the insect with sharp-pointed dissecting scissors and 

 the contents of the abdomen and thorax are removed with a pair 

 of fine-pointed forceps. The thorax need not be cut, as its 

 contents may be extracted through the slit in the abdomen. A 

 tbiy roll of cotton-wool should then be put in the empty body 

 to restore its shape. Eggs may be obtained and kept for refer- 

 ence in spirit or formalin when a female happens to be killed at 

 the right moment. If Lahidura ripar'ui is put into weak formalin 

 before being mounted it retains to a great extent its natural 

 pale tint, and perhaps it might be an advantage to treat other 

 Orthoptera with a bath of formalin or spirit before setting. This, 

 however, would not be advisable if the wings were afterwards to 

 be expanded. 



28, Knight's Park, 



Kingston-on-Thames ; 

 September 29th, 1919. 



THE EARLIER STAGES OF PERONEA MACCANA, Tr., 



P. LIPSIANA, ScHiFF, P. RUFANA, Schiff, and 



P. SCHALLERIANA, L. 



By W. G. Sheldon, F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



There is not at present a description of the larva of three 

 of these species ; of the fourth, P. rnfana, the only description 

 known to me is of the full-grown larva by Barrett in ' Brit. 

 Lep.,' X, pp. 235-G, and the pupa, in which stage it is perhaps 

 most easily distinguishable from the nearly-allied P. lipsiaiia, 

 has not been described. I had been trying to work out the 

 earlier stages of P. schalleriana, and what is almost certainly 

 its variety P. comparana, Hiib., for several years, but as my 

 efforts were not brought to a conclusion until this year, when 

 I found the larvae not uncommon in the Black Wood at Rannoch, 

 at the time that I was searching for those of the other three 

 species, I have included my observations on this species with 

 them. 



