b2 CURIOSITIES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



tightly over it. The colour is a deep orange. A remarkable 

 instance of the change of colour, which occurs from physiolo- 

 gical causes connected with the development of the embryo, 

 and one from which the insect partly derives its name, is seen 

 in the Endromus versicolor, or Glory of Kent. The egg is 

 first bright yellow, then successively green, rose colour, and 

 reddish black. A still more familiar instance is presented in 

 the egg of the Bombyx mori, or Silkworm moth (Fig. 11), 

 which, when first laid, is of a delicate pale yellow ; this hue it 

 retains for some time ; it is subsequently of a reddish brown, 

 and just before the embryo quits the egg it acquires a slate 

 colour, partaking for the time being of the colour of the 

 embryo within ; but so soon as the worm emerges forth, the 

 shell regains its original pale yellow. The outer and inner 

 portions of the egg membrane are represented magnified 150 

 diameters at a and b (Fig. 11). The Euproctis chrysorrhasa, 

 or Browntail moth (Fig. 12), produces a small spheroidal egg, 

 which, slightly flattened at the poles, is uniformly covered 

 with imbricated scales, and is terminated in the upper pole by 

 a geometrical series ; this moth appears to cover her eggs 

 with fine hairs, and the empty spherical egg-cases are beauti- 

 fully iridescent. The Pieris brassicw, or White butterfly 

 (Fig. 13), lays an egg in shape very like the basket employed 

 in lobster-fishing, a rarer form than any of the preceding. It 

 is conical, and of considerable length ; the lid forms the base, 

 which is slightly recurved upon the sides, and a regular series 

 of ribs with cross-bars runs from end to end. The eggs are 

 of a primrose colour and cemented at the base to the back or 

 leaf of the plant in symmetrical order. The Epinephile janira, 

 or Meadow-brown butterfly (Fig. 14), lays a sub-conical egg, 

 considerably flattened towards the apex ; the raised ribs, which 

 stand away from the sides, have a silvery colour, and give to 

 the whole a corrugated appearance. The lid completely 

 occupies the top, and in a smaller inner circle the micropyle 

 is situated, which is better displayed when the lid is sepa- 

 rated from the egg, as shown at a. The Theda betulce, or 

 Brown-hair streak butterfly (Fig. 15) presents a perfectly 

 white, exquisitely formed, sub-conical egt? ; at first sight it 



