262 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



I feel almost certain that the larvae are cannibals; excepting 

 the one just mentioned they all disappeared ; a minute search 

 failed to discover any dead ones, and as the glass shade stood on 

 a white cloth the smaller ones would have been easily detected, 

 to say nothing of one a quarter of an inch long. The fact that 

 the ova are deposited either singly or in groups of three or four, 

 and also the fact of the half-grown larva forming a web for its 

 protection whilst undergoing its moult, seem to be confirmatory 

 evidence. 



The cocoons are nearly as yellow as those of Bombyx mori ; 

 they are placed on the under side of a leaf of the food-plant with- 

 out bending or warping it ; the central part (that opposite the 

 back of the caterpillar) is left open until the other parts are 

 nearly completed, and is then closed up ; the pupa remains 

 visible owing to the thinness of the walls. When the imago 

 emerges it does not cut or burst its way out as does B. mori and 

 many other species ; but there is a horizontal slit or opening at 

 the end of the cocoon which yields to the pressure from within, 

 and closes again when the moth has escaped, scarcely a fibre of 

 silk being displaced, or the slightest stain visible to indicate that 

 it has left its temporary shelter. 



The imago during the day is sluggish, and will not readily 

 use its wings ; the principal points that attract attention are — 

 its large curved palpi, its large and curiously formed thoracic 

 crest, long legs, and the very acute angle made by the wings in 

 repose. 



The species is double-brooded, but the only example of the 

 second brood that I know to have been taken in the wild state is 

 the one mentioned above as caught by myself in September, 1890. 

 Mr. Mathew and Mr. Phipps seem to have reared and perhaps 

 taken specimens of the second brood, and, as just noted, I had 

 one emerge from the pupa on August 29th. Of those of which I 

 have notes of capture, one was taken in May, thirteen in June, 

 nineteen in July, and one in September. 



So far as is known at present, the distribution of P. moneta in 

 Great Britain is strictly confined to the south-easterly part of 

 England, the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells being its head- 

 quarters. In Kent 16 have been procured, and many others bred 

 or captured by Mr. Mathew and Mr. Phipps ; Surrey, 8 ; Sussex, 1 ; 

 Hampshire, 2 ; Berkshire, 4 ; Middlesex, 2 ; Cambridge, 13 ; 

 Norfolk, 1 ; total 47. There does not appear to be any recorded 

 from Essex, Suffolk, or Hertfordshire, which leaves a rather 

 large gap between Norfolk and Cambridge localities and the 

 more southern counties. 



Halifax Eoad, Cambridge. 



