254 Mr. T. A. Chapman on Micropteryx ammanella. 



M. caUhclla. The eggs were laid deep in amongst the wet 

 moss, in two instances quite out of sight till the moss was 

 separated, and, in another, on the bottom of the jar beneath 

 the moss. They were laid in batches of about thirty in 

 three instances, and in one of between forty and fifty eggs. 

 They are laid rather closely but irregularly together, with 

 a tendency for the long axes of the eggs to be parallel, 

 this obtaining throughout the whole of one group ; in 

 others the space available seems to have necessitated 

 movement of the moths, thus frustrating this design. 



Unlike the eggs of Micro;ptcryx {Eriocc2)ha.la) I have pre- 

 viously examined, these eggs are not spherical, as those of 

 M. caUhclla, M. aurcatclla, and M. scpjjella are, absolutely 

 or approximately, but distinctly ovoid. The long axis 

 being about yV^h inch ('47 mm.), the transverse about fth 

 of the length (•82 mm.) ; both ends appear to be alike, so 

 that the longitudinal section would be an ellipse, and any 

 transverse section a circle. They are nearly white, trans- 

 kicent, and opalescent, with the same snow-like coating as 

 in the other species. This consists of upright rods with 

 swollen ends, tolerably close together, of varying thick- 

 nesses, and of a length equal to about one-fourth of the 

 diameter of the egg, but occasionally equal to nearly half 

 the diameter. This snowy coating is formed of a very 

 flimsy transparent evanescent material, that perishes on 

 very slight interference. 



The moths were placed in confinement on April 8th ; 

 eggs were found on April 12th, and they did not hatch till 

 early in May. 



The young larvse did not eat any of the moss that they 

 were amongst, so that I doubt its being their proper food. 

 They are rather smaller than those of M. aurcatclla, but I 

 could detect no difference between them and those of the 

 other species examined. The suranal setse are well 

 marked. The jaws have four large teeth and a slight 

 notch. 



