Urticating Properties of Porthesia similis. 427 
Poulton made the ingenious suggestion that possibly the 
arrangement of spicules in a ring or band might be peculiar 
to the cocoons spun by a female larva. Unfortunately by 
this time I had but few cocoons left and further supplies 
were unobtainable. The few remaining examples were 
cut open and the pupae carefully sexed. Of six cocoons 
two contained female pupae and four male. In the former 
the spicules were certainly arranged in a more definite 
band than in the latter. In two of the male cocoons 
they were much less numerous, and in the remaining two 
were more scattered. It will be interesting to complete 
this observation when further material becomes available. 
Meanwhile we have evidence of a very remarkable instinct 
in the female moth, which by collecting its own larval 
spicules, materially adds to the protective qualities of the 
tuft of hair with which it ultimately covers its eggs. The 
spinose structure of its own hairs causes the majority of 
the spicules to be retained in that part of the tuft, which 
when eventually transferred to the eggs, les uppermost. 
The moth itself is probably distasteful, and nearly every 
collector must have observed the manner in which the 
conspicuous gold “tail” is suddenly protruded between 
the wings when the insect in its resting position has been 
disturbed. This warning action may also be associated 
with the presence of the urticating spicules in the tuft, 
the males in such case being, as males are said to be, 
mere deceivers. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXII. 
(See explanation facing the PLATE.) 
