11 



iustre and a pale green colour, sometimes tuining to yellow ; and 

 varies in sliape froin an ovate to au oblate spliseroid. A ciicular 

 space on its suminit is smooth, and from hence proceed about 

 tvventy-four longitudinal ribs, the intervals between vvhicli are 

 crossed by obsolete slricB. 



The young larva is of the šame colour with the egg, is marked by 

 seven longitudinal black lines of hairs, and has a dirty yellowish 

 head. VVhen fuliy grown it is cylindrical, is vvithout hinder pro- 

 tuberance on the penultimate segment, and has the more usual six- 

 teen feet: it rarely roUs itself into a ring. Its head is sessile and 

 red, with usually nearly twenty black spots, several of vvhich seera 

 to be tolerably constant; the mandibles are black. 'ihe prothorax 

 is velvety black, with a white dorsal line and two or three uhite 

 irregular spots at the sides ; but the proportion of white varies, and 

 there is sometimes a slight red 5pot on the back of the segment. 

 The body varies from pale yellovvish green to a flesh colour, \vith 

 five paler longitudinal lines, of vvhich the middle one is dorsal: the 

 falše feet are somevvhat paler than the body ; the true feet are red. 

 The mesothoracic segment is rarely spotted, but ail the others are 

 often marked more or less with black spots. The spiracles are 

 usually black. Each segment is furnished vvith about six hairs, 

 vvhich are white, and nearly one fifth as long as the whole body. 



The pupa is not at all angular, but is rather gaily coloured; it is 

 pf a yellowish brown, with the thorax paler and the vcings darker. 

 The head is rounded and is marked, as vigeli as the mesothorax, vvith 

 several black spots; on the latter these are interspersed vvith points: 

 the abdominal segments are each marked transversely vvith numer- 

 ous black linear dots. The position of the pupa is horizontai, in 

 an ovaI cocoon composed of a loose dirty-yellovv šilk, (vvith nieshes 

 so fevv and so lax as to allow the inmate to be readily seen,) and 

 spun about vviihered or dead leaves. 



The perfect insect is truly diurnal, svvift in its flight, mounting 

 high in the air, and travelling inland for tvvo or three leagues, vvhere 

 it haunts gardens in great numbers. By far the greater number, 

 however, remain on the sea-shore, sporting about the leaves of the 

 Coccoloba uvifera, unless when depositing their eggs on the Ompko' 

 lea. Its habit of freąuenting the Coccoloba induced Mr. MacLeay 

 to search long in vain for its larva on that tree. VVhen it alights, 

 all the four vvings are expanded horizontally, and rarely, if evcr, 

 take a vertical position. 



Mr. MacLeay concludes this portion of his paper by referring to 

 Madarae Merian's description of the metamorphosis of Ur. Leilus, 

 and to her figure of its larva; both of vvhich he regards as unvvorthy 

 of credit, He then passes to her account of a bird-catching Spider. 



The story of a Spider vvhich catches and devours birds had, Mr, 

 MacLeay believes, its origin \vith Madame Merian, Oviedo, Labat, 

 and Rochefort make no mention of any Spider as possessing such 

 habits, the tvvo latter vvriters going no further than the statement 

 that in the Bermudas there exists one vvhich makes nets of so strong 

 a construction as to entangle small birds. Madame Merian, hovvever, 



