THE EMERGENCE OF CONCHYLIS GIGANTANA (aLTERNANA). 297 



wings has dark shading to such an extent that the whole appears to be 

 ahnost black. This form is described in Seitz as var. tetrica, Friihs. 

 S. anthe. — This fine Kussian species was not by any means 

 common ; it frequented the tops and sides of dry hills a little to the 

 south-east of Sarepta, and was very shy and difficult to approach ; 

 under these conditions I was only able to secure a very short series. 

 First seen on June 14th. 



(To be continued.) 



THE EMERGENCE OF CONCHYLIS GIGANTANA 

 (ALTERNANA). 



By the Rev. W. G. Whittingham, F.E.S. 



Concliylis gigantana feeds and pupates in the flower-heads 

 of Centaurea scabiosa. The heads which contain the pupae are 

 generally small and somewhat misshapen; rather swollen on 

 one side, for example. They have, as a rule, no trace of florets, 

 only the chaffy scales being perceptible. The heads are some- 

 times so small that it seems likely that the larva has done part 

 of its feeding in another flower-head, and having exhausted the 

 supply of food, has crawled out to a fresh one before pupating. 

 This is borne out by the fact that occasionally larger heads, 

 which look like flowering, contain them. 



A number of heads were obtained in the latter part of July, 

 the imagines emerging from July 22nd to August 26th, The 

 emergence took place, as a rule, in the morning, between 8 a.m. 

 and 10 a.m., though occasionally they appeared later in the day, 

 especially when the weather was cool. Two or three appeared 

 in the afternoon. The following are the dates recorded and the 

 number of insects emerging on them : — July 18th (one taken in 

 the open); July 22nd (one); 23rd (two); 24th (one); 25th 

 (three) ; 26th (one) ; 27th (two) ; 28th (one) ; 29th (three) ; 

 30th (four) ; 31st (two) ; August 2nd (five) ; 3rd (two) ; 4th 

 (three) ; 5th (one) ; 6th (one) ; 7th (one) ; 9th (one) ; 10th (one) ; 

 12th (one) ; 13th (one) ; 14th (two) ; 15th (one) ; 17th (one) ; 

 22nd (one) ; 26th (one). 



The process of the emergence was observed in several in- 

 stances. The first indication was the appearance of the head of 

 the pupa among the scales at the opening of the flower-head. 

 When it had been noted that the insects usually appeared about 

 breakfast time, a careful inspection at about the right time was 

 again and again rewarded by the sudden appearance of a glint 

 of shining brown pupal skin at the mouth of one or another 

 seed-head. In a succession of slow rotary movements, accom- 

 panied by a faint sound as the parts of the plant gave before 

 them, the pupa worked its way forward till more than half of it 



ENTOM. — NOVEMBER, 1914. 2 B 



