Insects. 7363 



insect emerges, and, climbing the bole of some tree, there remains until its wings 

 have acquired the necessary rigidity; it then flies up among the branches, and spends 

 the remainder of its life amoug the lenves, whence it is frequently dislodged by the 

 beating-stick of the entomologist. — E. Newman. 



Curious Economy of Talaporia pseudn-bombj/cella. — Between the 10th and I8th 

 of June, 1860, having bred several males and females of Talaeporia pseudo-bombycella, 

 I was rather surprised to find that some of the females had laid their eggs at the 

 bottom of the jar, for I recollected reading, in the second volume of the ' Intelligencer,' 

 an extract from Professor von Siebold's work, entitled ' On a true Parthenogenesis in 

 Mollis,' &c., where, after remarking that the females of Solenobiae always lay their 

 eggs inside the case itself, he proceeds, " The females of the case-bearing genus Talae- 

 poria, which approaches most closely to the Solenobiae, proceed in exactly the same 

 way in escaping and laying their eggs." Why some should lay their eggs at the 

 bottom of the jar, whilst others deposited them in iheir cases, I am at a loss to 

 account, as they all received the same treatment, and were all in ihe same jar. Here 

 I should observe that mine is not a solitary instance of their doing so, as the very 

 same circumstance came under the notice of a friend who was breeding the insect at 

 the time. On the 21st I found that the females who had deposited their eggs at the 

 bottom of the jar had covered them with a kind of down : my first impression upon 

 observing this downy covering was that it was intended for the protection of the eggs, 

 but, on cutting open two or three of the cases, inside of which the eggs were deposited, 

 I found them snugly ensconced in the midst of a quantity of the same kind of down as 

 that I had observed placed over the eggs at the bottom of the jar. What purpose this 

 down was intended to answer completely puzzled me until, on the 11th of July, finding 

 several young larvae crawling up the side of the jar, I examined them by the aid of 

 a lens, when I found that the down (the use of which I could not comprehend) had 

 been so placed over the eggs for the young larvae to envelop their bodies with ; for, 

 on comparing the down round the bodies of the young larvae with that at the bottom 

 of the jar, I found it was precisely the same material. I also find the following com- 

 munication by Mr. R. S. Edlestou, in the ' Zoologist' (Zool. 5406), respecting a genus 

 closely allied to T. pseudo-bombycella : — " Diplodoma marginepunctella. The female 

 covers her eggs with a thick coating of fur, in a similar manner to Porlhesia auriflua." 

 And further to illustrate my assertion I send you a quill containing a quantity of 

 young larvae of T. pseudo-bombycella for your inspection. — Charles Healy (in the 

 'Intelligencer) ; 74, Napier Street, Hoxlon, November 27, 1860. 



Means Employed in the Capture of a Nest of Hornets. — In my notice of the 

 capture of a nest of hornets (Zool. 7291) I stated my intention of making known 

 "the plan of attack" I adopted, which, with permission, I will now do. The 

 nest was discovered the beginning of August, at which period there did not appear to 

 be more than about twenty workers developed. It was situated in the head of 

 a pollard ash that had been cut down, and was lying in the wood-yard at Coke- 

 thorpe Park. Wishing to obtain, if possible, specimens of Velleius dilatatus, either 

 in the larva or perfect slate, I made no attempt to take the nest for several weeks, in 

 order that the parasite might have full opportunity of establishing itself therein. 

 For permission to delay the capture, and make it when I thought proper, I am 

 indebted to the kindness and courtesy of Mr. Walter Strickland, a gentleman every 

 way worthy of the name he bears, the owner of the Cokethorpe estate, and a near 

 relative of the late lamented and never-lo-be-forgolten Hugh Edwin Strickland, 



