578 The Zoologist— February, 1867. 



change the black rings on the four major fleshy lumps'|on the head almost fade away, 

 and the caterpillar is well covered all over with thin hairs about one-eighth of an inch 

 long: at the base of each leg is a yellow spot, and over the mouth are four spots or 

 fleshy lumps forming a crescent. Now comes the fourth change, and the larva is now 

 about two inches long: the fleshy lumps on the back and sides have changed to 

 reddish yellow, with a black ring on the top of each lump and four black short hairs 

 also: on each side of the light-coloured line on the side of the larva are little reddish 

 yellow spots, and on the line at the base of each leg are diamond-shaped marks, the 

 inside yellow and the outer maik dark red : the legs and under part of the body are of 

 a beautiful dark green, the sides a lighter green, and the back much lighterj'still and 

 covered with white hairs ; the legs are covered with black hair, and all the fleshy lumps 

 with four or five black bristles. 



" There can be no mistake about the larva I have described, for those I have 

 reared have now come out of their cocoons, and the moth is a white-green, with one 

 spot on each wing, two under wings swallow-tailed; a pink or rather reddish pink line 

 borders the top of the upper wings and crosses the head ; the body covered with white 

 down." 



Prof. Westwood added that Mr. Holdsworth had mistaken the [Asiatic "Actias 

 Selene for the North American A. Luna : the larva of the. Indian species was figured 

 in the fifth volume of the Society's ' Transactions' (pi. v.), from a^drawing by Captain 

 Hutton: it was desirable to see the perfect insect, as there appeared to be several local 

 races of it. 



Prof. Westwood exhibited a series of specimens of Liparis dispar, reared from the \ 

 egg-state by Mr. Briggs, of St. John's College, Oxford, illustrating not only a 

 remarkable variation, according to the nature of the food of the larva;, but also 

 showing a strong tendency to degeneration. The progenitors of these specimens, two 

 or three generations back, had been obtained wild in Yorkshire, and were of moderate 

 size (not so large, however, as the specimens formerly taken in such quantities at 

 Whittlesea Mere). The eggs were received in October, 1865, and the caterpillars 

 hatched during the first half of the following May. The caterpillars were divided into 

 two groups, those composing one of which were fed exclusively on elm, and the others 

 exclusively on whitethorn. The caterpillars spun up between the 5th and 18th of 

 July. No perceptible variation was observed in the larva;, cocoons or pupa; of the two 

 divisions. The males in both divisions began to hatch on the 18th of July, but the 

 females did not appear until half the males were already hatched. Almost all the 

 males in both divisions were fully developed, only two cripples appearing out of | the 

 thirty-two fed upon elm. The males fed on elm averaged one inch and five-twelfths in 

 the expansion of their fore wings: they were uniformly coloured, much darker and 

 richer than the males fed on the whitethorn, the dark markings on the fore wings were 

 strongly defined, the ground colour of these wings was also darker; the hind wings 

 were reddish brown. The males fed on the hawthorn were considerably smaller, 

 averaging only one inch and two-twelfths in expanse; the ground colour of all their 

 wings was paler and grayer than in the others, but the markings of the fore wings 

 were generally well defined. A few of the males in each division were considerably 

 smaller than the specimens exhibited. In the elin-fed females fourteen out of sixteen 

 were crippled, with their wings not properly developed, and even the other two were 



