16 Mr. H. Donisthorpe wi 



they were, however, generally disturbed by the ants, when 

 they separated and flew out of the nest. When not dis- 

 turbed they separated in about twenty-five minutes, and 

 then both flew away. 



Last year I had eggs laid by these beetles, in boxes 

 in which I had kept them. Nearly all the eggs were 

 naked, but two of them were partly covered by a curious 

 case. I sent them to Dr. Chapman to describe, as I was 

 going away at the time ; this he kindly did in the 

 Entomological Record (for 1900, p. 213), as follows. 



Of the naked eggs he says they were : " Long ovoid, 

 apparently circular in cross-section. The length is "12 m.m., 

 the greatest width '50 m.m. The colour is yellowish-white, 

 somewhat opalescent, with clearer and more transparent 

 contents towards the ends in some specimens." 



Of the partly-covered eggs he writes : " When magnified 

 so as to look an inch or two long, one cannot resist the idea 

 that here is a larval case, or cocoon, clothed with the 

 brown glumes, or bracts, that fall from the leaf-buds of 

 trees when they open in the spring. The bracts are thin and 

 membranous, projecting in various directions. . . .but unlike 

 bracts, are not all to regular pattern, and are like irregular 

 torn pieces of membrane, of various sizes and shapes. 

 Their total projection is •12 m.m. from the surface of the 

 egg." He then asked if I could explain how this covering 

 to the e^g was provided, and what was its use. I suggested 

 {Entomolo gists Record, 1900, p. 238), that perhaps the 

 beetles laid the eggs on, or in, the anthill, and that all the 

 eggs were then supplied with capsules to serve the young 

 larvae as a protection till they had formed their own cases. 

 Now let us return to the breeding-cage. I found that the 

 beetles ate the leaves, and especially the young shoots of 

 the birch, biting them through at the top. 



On June 16th I found on the floor of the cage both 

 covered and naked eggs, but in the case of the covered 

 eggs they were now completely enveloped by such a 

 capsule as that described by Dr. Chapman. They look 

 exactly like the bract, or some other part, of a plant, and 

 in fact are very like the end of a birch catkin when it 

 breaks off. Without food the beetle does not appear to 

 be able to construct a proper covering to the egg. This 

 egg-case is made by the $ beetle from her own excrement. 

 It is a lengthy process, which I was fortunate enough to 

 observe on several occasions. The ^ clasps a branch with 



