82 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



pupa in this more or less open pocket. The females, on the 

 other hand, rolled a large portion of the leaf sharply around, 

 beginning at the edge, and closed over the so-formed pocket 

 with numerous strong silk threads, with the exception of a small 

 opening to allow the larva egress, and then gnawed this cocoon 

 loose from the rest of the leaf, so that it fell to the ground, or 

 rather into the sleeve, and then fastened up the opening. In 

 this manner the pupa was better protected against many 

 dangers than if it fell, in late autumn, with the rest of the 

 leaves. These females also had regularly a number of eggs in 

 their ovaries, the developing powers of which have, however, 

 not as yet been ascertained. 



Both hybrids Nos. 20 and 27 are nearer to Drepana ciirvatula 

 than falcataria, but it cannot be determined, with accuracy, as 

 to whether the male has a stronger influence on the aspect of 

 the hybrid than the female, on account of the limited number 

 of imagines of cross No. 21 as yet obtained. 



PI. IV. figs. 9 and 10 shows a female and a male of the crossing between 

 Pygcera pigra^ xcurtida^^o. 23 ; and, as we have already seen, PI. IV. 

 figs. 11 and 12, a female and male of the reciprocal cross No. 24. As in 

 the latter, so in the former, the males emerged previous to the females, but 

 not with such a great interval of time as in No. 24. It was, therefore, possible 

 to obtain numerous in-breedings of No. 23 without resorting to artificial 

 means to keep back the males. It was not, however, found possible to 

 rear the numerous offspring of this hybrid, as the larvae died soon after 

 leaving the egg. Both crossings Nos. 23 and 24 are nearer to pigra than 

 curtula; but the females have a prevailing influence on the aspect of the 

 hybrids, if either sex predominates. 



PI. IV. figs. 15 and 16 shows a pair of hybrids of P. anacJioreta ^ xcur- 

 tula 5 No. 26. The reciprocal hybrid No. 25, which is figured PI. IV. figs. 

 13 and 14, has already been dealt with in the text and in footnote 14. Both 

 forms are nearer the phylogenetically older form curtula than the younger 

 anachoreta ; but, in a subordinate manner, the influence of the male prevails 

 in the aspect of these reciprocal hybrids. 



The hybrid No. 26 is very difficult to obtain, and, according to the pre- 

 sent experiments, only gives a small percentage of living progeny. In 1898, 

 out of six pairings, each of which contained from 150 to 200 eggs, only 

 seventy larvae were obtained, and from which only twenty-seven imagines were 

 bred. Two of these insects were females, both of small size, whose ovaries 

 could only hold a few eggs. One of these females is figured, PI. IV. fig. 15. 

 Further, appeared among these hybrids an individual with wonderfully 

 irregular colour tones, light and dark, grey and brown being mixed up 

 together in the colouring of the upper side of the right and the under side 

 of the left fore wings. Perhaps this is a gynandromorphic form, as the (un- 

 figured) female actv^ally has a darker coloration than any of the males. The 

 antennae of this specimen are true male, but it possesses a monstrous abdo- 

 men, of which more later. 



iFurther, among the twenty-seven hybrids were three specimens, which, 

 although to all appearances male, did not have the abdomen composed of the 

 usual nine segments ; the specimen just mentioned above also comes under 

 this head. Two of these specimens had the seventh abdominal segment de- 

 veloped to its proper extent on the left side only, and the remaining two had 

 this same seventh segment properly developed only on the right side, de- 

 creasing in size, in all four cases, to the middle of the back, and beneath to 

 the middle of the belly, and disappearing towards the opposite side of the 



