24 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse o« Eaphidia. 



ful that the confident manner in which he speaks might put a stop 

 to further inquiry in a matter which I think not fully investigated. 

 M. Percheron seems rather hastily to have set aside two of the 

 greatest authorities, viz. Linnseus and Latreille, Avho were both ac- 

 quainted with the larva and pupa of this insect : the latter, who 

 reared it, states that the remarks of the former are correct, and the 

 observations which I have made induce me to be of the same opinion. 



I insert, for the purj3ose of comparison, a translation of the de- 

 scription of M. Percheron. It will be seen, on comparing his de- 

 scription, and that in which Linnaeus, Latreille and myself concur, 

 that much difference existed in the specimens. It is extraordinary 

 that such a difference should exist, even though they may have been 

 larvae of different species. 



M. Percheron's account is as follows : — " The larva lives under 

 " the bark of trees, where it is sometimes found, but not very com- 

 " monly; it is carnivorous, and probably feeds upon other small 

 " larvae oi Arachnides and Onisci, which prefer that situation; it does 

 " not walk very quickly, but the movements of its body are per- 

 " formed with so much violence, and with such a degree of undula- 

 " tion, as to give it the appearance of a serpent, to which it has 

 " been compared. The larva is oblong ; the head is nearly square, 

 " rounded posteriorly ; the mouth is formed as in the perfect insect ; 

 " the maxillary palpi are four-jointed; the labial three ; the man - 

 " dibles are unidentate anteriorly; the eyes are composed of seven 

 " little black points, disposed as follows, viz. six in a circle, and a 

 " seventh a little in advance ; the antennae are three-jointed, dimi- 

 " nishing progressively in length ; the legs are as usual ; the femora, 

 •' tibiae and tarsi of a single joint each, and are almost equal in 

 " length, a double claw terminates the last ; the anterior legs are 

 " double the size of the four posterior. The head and the prothorax 

 " which forms its only thorax, are of a shining brown ; the body is 

 " of a greenish black, with two yellow bands upon the segments ; 

 " the legs, the antennae and the labrum yellowish. 



" After remaining more or less time in the larva state, which it 

 " often does during the whole of the winter (in consequence of the 

 " eggs being hatched late in the season), the insect changes into 

 *' the imago in the same place in which it has lived, without making 

 " any cocoon, but at this moment there is a delicate operation to 

 " be performed. ****** 



" This pupa is a true chrysalis, not like that of the Lepldoptera, but 

 " like that of the Coleoptera: all the parts of the body, without being 

 " attached to each other, are covered with a membrane which lun- 

 " ders the action, yet the whole body has the same faculty of con- 



