DIURNI OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN FRANCE, AND CORSICA. 75 



ately, or the greater part of it, and then rest for about twenty- 

 four hours before beginning again upon the leaves. The male 

 larva, as in P. scythe, has considerably longer antennae, and the 

 fore legs are much less expanded than in the female. 



The cage, even in winter, is thoroughly sprayed with tepid 

 water once a day, and it is interesting to see the thirsty larvae 

 lower their mouths to the pendant drops. Others, avoiding 

 the shower, shrink closer to the under sides of the leaves, and 

 cleverly incline their bodies to let the water run off the more 

 quickly. 



The insect, when feeding, still keeps to the under side of the 

 leaf, and merely twists its head round so as to bring its mandibles 

 within reach of the edge of the leaf. Keally diurnal, the larvae 

 at this stage are most inclined to feed soon after dawn, and again 

 during the last hour of daylight. I have at present twenty-nine 

 larvae, and unless the short days of an English winter have de- 

 layed their growth, some of them should soon be reaching the 

 imago state, for Mons. Morton found his first perfect insect (a 

 male) four months after the hatching of the first egg. 



Since the above was written, four of the male larvae have 

 entered into the imago state, the first on February 14th. 



Scarnpston, York. 



[A plate illustrating this article will appear in a future 

 number. — Ed.] 



NOTES ON THE DIURNI OF CENTRAL AND 

 SOUTHERN FRANCE, AND CORSICA. 



By W. G. Sheldon, F.E.S. 



A good many of those who collect the European Rhopalocera, 

 and who travel a considerable distance for some or most of them, 

 do not realize the number of much wanted species that occur 

 freely in the magnificent series of forests surrounding Paris. It 

 is true one sees a good many notes in Kane and in other authors 

 of the occurrence there of certain species, but the opinion gener- 

 ally seems to hold that the records refer chiefly to the long 

 distant past, and that the species recorded are no longer to be 

 found in the haunts described. 



This was my own opinion until quite recently, but a con- 

 versation I had with M. H. Brown, who has for years past 

 worked the district, led me to change it. M. Brown has most 

 kindly made out for me a list of the Diurni observed by him as 

 constantly occurring within a radius of, say, fifty miles from 

 Paris at the present time, and I find from this that ninety-nine 



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