(  xey--:) 
to obtain the material, by breeding as wellas by capture, by 
which this hypothesis will be confirmed or refuted. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CourtTsHIe OF PLANEMA ALCINOE, 
Freitp.—Prof. Poutron exhibited four males and one female 
of Planema alcinoe, captured Aug. 10th, 1911, in the forest 
one mile E. of Oni, near Lagos, by Mr. W. A. Lamborn, 
under the conditions described by him in the next paragraph, 
dated Aug. 13th. Prof. Pouuron said that he was not aware 
of similar observations having been made upon Lepidoptera, 
in which group the unsuccessful males have often been seen 
to disperse as soon as pairing takes place. It is to be noted 
that in a family of P. aleinoe bred by Mr. Lamborn the males 
emerged Sept. 8th-llth, 1911, the females not until Sept. 
16th—22nd. 
“‘T found five Planemas in a confused mass on a thin bough. 
Careful examination revealed that four were males and one a 
female. A male and female were in coitu, both resting on 
the upper side of the little bough facing opposite ways ; 
another male rested underneath, his head in the same direc- 
tion as that of the female, His claspers gripped her abdomen 
immediately in front of the claspers of his more successful 
rival, the penis of No. 2 being extruded and forced to one 
side. A 3rd male grasped a wing of the female so firmly 
with his legs that the membrane was crumpled up: he re- 
mained motionless. The 4th male grasped and crumpled up 
the opposite wing in a similar way, all the time making efforts 
to obtain hold of any portion at all of her anatomy with his 
claspers.” 
TuE Cocoons AND Eaes or THE Bompycrp Motu, NorasuMA 
koLGA, Druce.—Prof. Poutton exhibited the cocoon of JV. 
kolga together with the moth which had emerged from it. 
The compact cocoon itself was reddish, with an outer imperfect 
covering of yellow silk. In some cocoons, including the one 
exhibited, the silk of this loose and open network formed 
dense little masses here and there which, being bright yellow 
in colour, much resembled the cocoons of Braconid parasites. 
Prof. Poulton had written to Mr. Lamborn to inquire whether 
these structures were always present in the natural state, as 
it seemed possible that the loose covering had been lost in 
