( xxii ) 



crate filled with them, and, fortunately, when the bags 

 arrived, the caterpillars having passed the final moult, some 

 of them were already pupating, and I was able to watch the 

 process. The butterflies subsequently emerged, and as I 

 had imagined from the outset, the insect proved to be 

 Eucheira socialis, Westw. , the males appearing in advance 

 of the females. Oviposition took place within the silken 

 bags in a number of instances, the females not coming 

 forth, and I noticed that a number of the females, which 

 appeared to be sluggish in their movements, did not attain a 

 perfect normal expansion of the wings, as if there were already 

 a tendency toward the development of a weakly-winged or 

 possibly an ultimate apterous form ; a phenomenon which is 

 well known in the case of the ' bag moths.' This abortion of 

 the wings, however, may have been purely an accident, but it 

 was rather remarkable that while all the males emerged 

 with finally perfect wings — and there Avere some hundreds of 

 them — a very heavy percentage of the females were either 

 under-sized or partially aborted, crumpled, and unable to 

 attain full development. Not having the proper food-plant, I 

 was, of course, unable to work out the life history of the 

 larva?, although I preserved a large number of them both in 

 spirits and inflated. That this insect is congeneric with 

 XeopJtasia menapia and N. terlootii I do not believe, and in 

 this respect I quite agree with Dr. Dixey. 



" In conclusion, it may be interesting to recall that my 

 friend, Professor Carl Lumholz, in his recent book on Mexico, 

 figures a group of Indians engaged in extracting the caterpillars 

 from those silken tents. They are a staple article of diet 

 among some of the mountain tribes, and I am told that the 

 forests in places are literally white with the big silken webs, 

 many of which arc five or six times greater than the original 

 specimen described and figured by Professor Westwood, and 

 now before us. 



"Meanwhile I have written a fully-illustrated article on 

 the subject, which will shortly be published, covering my 

 observations upon this interesting subject." 



Professor E. B. Poulton, F.R.S., read the following note 

 recently received from Mr. S. A. Neave, B.A., F.E.S. The 



