160 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



its cocoon at the end of the thread ; soon afterwards the thread breaks, 

 the cocoon falls to the ground, and then begins the jumping of the 

 cocoon from the jerks of the larva within. Our fellow is absolutely 

 jammed between the upper and lower membranes of the leaf, and 

 certainly does not escape from the withering or fall of the latter, as 

 far as can be judged from branches of the taai bosch kept indoors. 

 These larvfe are evidently of very slow growth, and this is how they 

 have so puzzled us ; for you may keep them au naturel, or only in the 

 extracted * cocoon' or ' shell' (of course this is only termed an ' egg' 

 in common parlance from its appearance), for weeks and months, and 

 they will not Hum' into the perfect insect. I know I got quite 

 annoyed with the persistent ticking, day after day, of the free ' eggs,' 

 as they untiringly jumped and jumped in their boxes. I cannot see 

 how the little fellows can get a chance of jumping under natural con- 

 ditions ; what is to set free the shell which holds one from the closely- 

 investing leaf-membranes ? Of course, when the peifect insect is de- 

 veloped, it must have the means of effecting its egress through both 

 cocoon and leaf ; but such cases abound throughout the insect world. 

 The difficulty in our fellow is why such fine saltatory powers should 

 be possessed by a grub which to all appearance would in nature never 

 have a chance of exercising them ; and the question arises whether, 

 after all, the jumping is anything more than an accident due to the 

 vigorous twists of the larva resenting the removal from its natural in- 

 vesting leaf. Possibly, indeed, the larva may habitually indulge in 

 the same muscular exercise during its normal condition of complete 

 imprisonment in both ' cocoon ' and investing leaf. Until somebody 

 has the time and patience to sit down steadily to the task of tracing 

 out the whole history of the taai bosch grub from first to last, we can 

 only guess at what is probable." In conclusion, Mr. Trinien affirms 

 that " at present there is so very little known or proved about it that 

 until some definite facts as to its life-history come to hand it is im- 

 possible to speak with certainty." — Catherine C. Hopley ; 42, Haggard 

 Eoad, Twickenham. 



" Be A Hunt for Phorodesma smaragdaria." — Acting on Mr. Elisha'a 

 advice (ante, p. 130), I have looked up his " correct accounts" of Phoro- 

 desma smareujdario, and I hope I have read them with more care than 

 he seems to have bestowed on my narrative of a hunt for the same 

 species. In the 'Transactions' of the Entomological Society of 

 London (1886, p. 467), Mr. Elislia refers to his previous record 

 (Entom. xvii. 235) by saying, "As stated in that note, I did not then 

 know what the larva fed on." We turn to Entom. xvii. 235, and read, 

 " It is now three years since I first went after this larva, and many 

 long and fruitless journeys I have had since that time, extending over 

 miles of ground in every direction on the salterns. Year after year I 

 was searching the wrong plants"; and further on in the same note he 

 remarks, "Now I know its food-plant I am in hope of filling my series, 

 although I am inclined to think that will be no easy matter, for I had 

 quite two hours' collecting after I had taken this larva, but failed to 

 take another. Tlie exact loccditij and the food-plant I vmst for obvious 

 reasons at present decline to state," &c. My paper was intended to give 

 both locality and food-plant, so that any entomologist wishing to 

 obtain P. synarafjdaria might do so without experiencing all the incon- 



