( Ix ) 



Professor E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., enquired as to the means 

 by which the young larvte were brought through the winter. 



The method employed was somewhat complicated, and Mr, 

 Newman subsequently prepared the following account which, 

 it is believed, will be of service to Fellows of the Society and 

 other naturalists who desire to test the application of Mendel's 

 Law to forms with hybernating larvoB, such as the valezina var. 

 of the female D. papliia. 



Hints as to the Egg-laying and Hybernation of Larvae 

 OF D. Paphia. — The female butterflies are confined in cheese- 

 tubs : in each of these I jjlace a spray of flowers which is 

 kept sprinkled with honey and water made into a syrup. 

 Pound the inside of the tubs are pieces of rough bark, and 

 over the top mosquito netting. In nature the females of 

 'pa'pliia often lay their eggs on the bark of trees ; for the 

 young larv£ie hybernate without feeding in the autumn and 

 consequently at once require a safe and dry place in which to 

 pass the winter. In captivity the females lay freely on the 

 bark I place in the tubs and on the mosquito netting. The 

 eggs change colour quickly, and the young larvse hatch in 

 about fourteen days. Just before the larvae hatch, I take the 

 bark out of the tubs and place it in large glass-topped metal 

 boxes which I have specially made for the purpose. On the 

 top of the bark I place a layer of fine " wood wool," such as 

 is used for packing. Many of the young larvse crawl into the 

 crevices of the bark, while others affix themselves to the 

 " wood wool." The eggs laid on the mosquito netting are 

 treated in the same manner, the netting being lightly i-olled 

 up and placed in the bottom of the glass-topped boxes and 

 wood wool over it. The metal boxes are then stored away on 

 the stone floor of a cold greenhouse till the spring. As a rule 

 the larva3 are on the move about mid-February : I then remove 

 the lids and stand the boxes on their sides in huge cages, 

 14 to 20 ft. long and 4 to 8 ft. broad, planted with growing 

 violets. When the larvae require food they crawl out of their 

 winter home, and at once find food close at hand. The metal 

 boxes should be as large as possible: Those I am now using 

 are 6 in. deep and 12 in. in circumference, and I wish they 

 were four times as large. This year I am employing large 



