( xHv ) 



oval, smooth, shiny, and of a rather pale orange colour. They 

 were laid on the sides of the breeding-jar just above the water, 

 and on wet blotting-paper, but the female never entered the 

 water for the purpose of ovipositing, although there were water- 

 plants and algae in the cage. The eggs laid on dry surfaces 

 soon collapsed and dried up, while those on wet surfaces kept 

 in good condition for so long as suitable conditions could be 

 maintained. Unfortunately such conditions could not be 

 maintained on board ship, and all the ova died before we 

 reached Java. 



" The adult moth readily takes to the water when frightened, 

 diving below the surface, and using its legs for swimming. 

 The wings are appressed to the body, and the whole insect 

 more or less covered with air-bubbles. They are capable of 

 remaining thirty minutes or more below the surface, clinging 

 to plants and submerged weeds. It is possible that in suitable 

 situations the females enter the water to oviposit, but this 

 would be impossible where the stream runs swiftest, and in 

 such places it is possible that they lay their eggs on the wet 

 I'ocks along the edge of the water. We were not fortunate 

 enough to observe the method of oviposition of the parasite." 



The use of the Saw by a Sawfly during Oviposition. — 

 Professor Poulton said that he had noticed the discussion at 

 a previous meeting upon the " saw " of the female Sawfly, and 

 observed that there was but little direct evidence of its use. 

 He therefore thought it might be of interest to record that 

 about the year 1886 he had watched the female of Croesus 

 septentrionalis, L., ovipositing on the under surface of a birch 

 leaf, in his garden at Oxford. Some of the ova then laid were 

 exhibited to the meeting, preserved in spirit. The speaker 

 had been much struck with the deliberate movements of the 

 insect and the facility with which she could be approached 

 and examined with a lens without any interference with her 

 work. He distinctly remembered the saw being moved back- 

 wards and forwards as in the ordinary act of sawing, but 

 could not be sure whether the work was done in the pull {ns 

 in certain pruning saws) or the push (as in most saws). The 

 effect was to cut a slit in the leaf tissue beside and obliquely 

 to the axis of the midrib or some chief vein. The saw was 



