226 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of this species and that of V. urticce are very dissimilar is to be 

 found in almost every text-book on butterflies that has been 

 published in this country. They are, on the contrary, very 

 similar." Barrett gives no description of the egg. Mr. South 

 (' British Butterflies,' p. 66) describes the only eggs he obtained 

 as " purplish with whitish ribs, but no caterpillars hatched from 

 them. Hellins, who squeezed a few eggs from a freshly killed 

 female, states that the colour is apparently a dull green." 



Having obtained two batches of eggs of V. polychloros from 

 specimens captured on April 6th last by the Hon. N. Charles 

 Eothschild and Mr. C. Granville Clutterbuck, I am indebted to 

 both these gentlemen for kindly sending the butterflies direct 

 to me ; thereby I have been enabled to note the colouring of the 

 egg from the time of deposition to that of hatching. 



One of the three females received I sent to Mr. L. W. Newman 

 on April 13th, which deposited a large batch of eggs (about two 

 hundred and twelve) during a gleam of sunshine the following 

 morning ; these he at once kindly sent to me, which arrived on 

 the 15th. These I figured when twenty-four hours old ; they 

 were then of an apricot-buff colour. These I returned to Mr. 

 Newman, who tells me they hatched on May 6th, remaining in 

 the egg-state twenty-two days. 



The second female died on April 23rd without depositing. 

 Upon dissection I found her full of eggs, apparently ready for 

 laying ; they were of a clear yellow-ochre colour, of the same 

 hue as when first laid. 



The third female, which I kept under constant observation, 

 and fed her about every other day, laid a batch of about one 

 hundred and twenty eggs on sallow between 1 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. 

 on April 20th. These eggs began hatching on May 7th, remain- 

 ing eighteen days in the egg-state. When first laid (directly 

 after) the colour is a pure yellow-ochre, which changes to apricot- 

 yellow when twenty-four hours old. They very gradually assume 

 a slightly duller colour by the third day, and by the fifth day are 

 dull ochreous-buff. Very gradually the colour increases in depth 

 to amber-brown when a week old ; the white keels give the 

 entire batch a drab appearance to the naked eye. Under 

 microscopic power the ground colour is amber, checkered with 

 underlying chestnut-red markings caused by the maturing of 

 the larva. 



After remaining for a few days the basal half assumes a more 

 ochreous hue, while the apical half turns duller, and finally the 

 ground colour becomes pale ochreous, the dark hairs of the larva 

 showing through the transparent shell, and the black head 

 covers the greater part of the crown ; this, combined with the 

 white keels, gives the eggs a dull purplish effect. 



The egg is 3^ in. high and dome-shaped. The micropyle is 

 flattened and very finely reticulated. There are from seven to 



