Notes in 1887 upon lepidopterous larve, de. 589 
to serve as a warning to other insect parasites be- 
longing to the same and other species, that the larva 
is already occupied. It is most interesting to note that 
the colour is such as to suggest that the larva contains 
the eggs of some internal parasite, for the black eggs 
very much resemble the small black scars which are 
produced by oviposition. Thus the species which lay 
eges within the body of the larva are warned off, as well 
as those which lay external eggs. In one case I bred a 
single dipterous imago from a larva of Cerwra vinula, 
which had been also attacked by Paniscus. But the 
time at which the former made its appearance seemed 
to indicate that the dipteron had laid its eggs before the 
hymenopteron. 
8. THE DEFENSIVE VALUE OF ‘‘ TUSSOCKS,’” AND THE 
ASSOCIATED BLACK INTERSEGMENTAL MARKINGS.—A “ tus- 
sock” may be defined as a tuft of fine hairs, very closely 
placed, and of approximately equal length, so that the 
structure is flat-topped. Microscopic examination shows 
that the constituent hairs bristle with minute lateral 
branches (in Orgyia pudibunda and O. antiqua, and 
probably in other species also). It is, therefore, clear 
that they would be extremely unpleasant if brought 
into contact with the tender skin of the mouth, and the 
experiments described below prove that this is the case. 
At the same time the hairs are so closely packed, and 
the ‘‘ tussock” appears to be so dense and continuous, 
that it does not seem to be made of hairs at all, but 
rather to be a projection from the dorsal surface of the 
larva, and a most feasible part for an enemy to seize 
upon. If seized, the fine hairs come out in immense 
numbers in the mouth of the enemy, and produce such 
an effect that the larva escapes unhurt. 
The following notes show that the ‘‘ tussocks”’ are held 
in an especially conspicuous manner when the larva is 
irritated, while the black markings are also revealed, 
and assist by rendering the tussocks more obvious, and 
by giving an appearance of increased projection. 
The larva of O. pudibunda possesses a large black 
intersegmental semilunar mark, between each of the 
four ‘‘tussocks,’ and a small one behind the last 
of these. The black marks are all shown to their full 
extent when the larva rolls into a ring. When the larva 
2R2 
