332 Dublin University Zoological Association. 



by him at Roebuck near Dublin, in spring 1852 ; and growing on the 

 body of a Lepidopterous larra, name unknown. They were nine in 

 number, but being all barren, it could not be accurately determined 

 by Dr. Harvey, Hon. Mem., to which of the two British species, 

 S. mili^aris and S. entomorrhiza (Hooker's English Flora, vol. v. 

 part 2), they belong. 



The President in reference thereto laid before the Meeting a larva 

 of Hepialus Robertsii, having a single fungus {Sphceria) attached to 

 one of the segments close to the head, about 4 inches in length ; the 

 larva itself not being half that length. Subsequently Dr. Harvey 

 exhibited Sp/t(sri<x attached to wasps, and made some interesting 

 observations on the subject. 



Mr. Hogan also exhibited specimens of the pupse of Vanessa Urtiece, 

 taken by him in the autumn of 1852 at Dalkey, Co. Dublin, from a 

 group of nettles and from a stone wall ; the former being beautifully 

 gilded, while the latter were of the usual dark colour ; and read the 

 following communication from E. W. Janson, Esq., on the subject : — 



" The fact you mention relative to the pupse of Vanessa Urtiece I 

 observed this autumn, and was not a little puzzled to account for it. 

 On a bank at the foot of a wall in my quotidian route to the city 

 (London), the nettles, which grow there luxuriantly, were thickly in- 

 habited by the caterpillars of the small tortoise-shell butterfly, and 

 in passing I daily watched their progress to the pupa state, which 

 many of them assumed on the stalks of the plants, whilst many ap- 

 peared to prefer the inequalities of the wall ; the former I found 

 nearly all possessed the metallic brilliancy of the chrysalis of V. poly- 

 chloros, whilst the latter were invariably quite destitute of lustre. 

 This circumstance, as I have before said, I was at a loss to account 

 for ; but on turning to Reaumur's ' Memoires pour servir a I'Histoire 

 des Insectes,' tome i. Memoir 6, at the conclusion of which he ex- 

 plains very satisfactorily the nature of the beautiful gilded appear- 

 ance which the pupse of many butterflies present, I find the following 

 paragraph : ' L't'tat de I'air, qui fait que la peau de la crisalide se 

 desseche plus ou moins vite, pent encore contribuer a les rendre plus 

 ou moins dorees. Quelques experiences m'ont paru prouver que celles 

 qui se dessechent trop promptement ne prennent pas une belle couleur 

 d'or : j'eu ai expose au soleil qui venoient de sortir du fourreau de 

 chenille et je les y ai laissees pendant plusieurs heures ; toutes ont 

 etc assez mal dorees.' The facts I have related and your observa- 

 tions fully corroborate the views entertained by the great French phi- 

 losopher ; for whilst the external covering of the chrysalides attached 

 to the wall, being exposed to the unchecked action of the air and 

 sun and the absorbent influence of the bricks themselves, would be 

 speedily dried, the cuticle of those attached to the stems of the 

 plants, and in most cases protected from the direct rays of the sun 

 by the foliage, and being nearer the ground, surrounded by a compa- 

 ratively moist atmosphere, would desiccate very slowly." — A. R. H. 



