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HATCHING OF THE EGGS OF ARGYNNIS LAODICE. 

 By F. W. Frohawk, M.B.O.U., F.E.S. 



In the ' Entomologist ' for March, 1909, I published an 

 account of the life-history of Argynnis laodice, wherein I stated 

 that the larvae remain developed within the egg throughout the 

 winter and emerge therefrom in the early spring. This state- 

 ment M. Gillmer contradicts in his review (' Societas Entomo- 

 logica,' xxiv. nos. 4-5) of the life-history, maintaining that the 

 larvfe in a state of nature emerge from the eggs in the autumn. 

 Subsequently i pointed out in the 'Entomologist,' October, 1909, 

 p. '258, that I felt convinced M. Gillmer was wrong in his 

 assertion, and that if any eggs emerged in the autumn this was 

 due to the fact that the eggs in question were kept more or less 

 under artificial conditions. 



The Hon. N. Charles Rothschild, to whom I am indebted for 

 the original eggs, now kindly tells me that he has received more 

 than one hundred eggs of A. laodice during January of this 

 year, from M. Kieselbach (living in Koenigsberg, where this 

 butterfly is common), who has informed him that, out of a 

 number of eggs deposited by a single female laodice, some 

 hatched in the autumn, while others passed through the winter 

 in the egg state, the young larvte only making their egress 

 from the shell in the spring. He further states that, in his 

 opinion, the larvae that emerge in the autumn are induced to 

 adopt that course when kept under artificial conditions, although 

 exposed to the cold ; he also seems more or less convinced that 

 in a state of nature the larvfe do not emerge from the eggs until 

 the spring. 



By this statement M. Kieselbach's opinion exactly coincides 

 with my own. 



It may be noted that A. laodice very closely resembles 

 A. paphia in all stages of the larva, and the pupae of both are so 

 similar that they are almost indistinguishable. But the eggs of 

 the two species differ : that of laodice bears a close resemblance 

 to the egg of A. adippe in form and general structure, as 

 well as the period of hatching. The latter are laid during 

 July and August, and hatch about the beginning of the follow- 

 ing April, while the eggs of A. paphia remain only about fifteen 

 days in the egg state, hatching during August, when the young 

 larvffi immediately enter into hybernation, without feeding on 

 anything more than that portion of the eggshell which they eat 

 away to allow of their emergence ; they simply rest near the 

 empty shell until the following spring, usually awakening at the 

 end of March or early in April. 



