8 



castrensis the more generalised form. (2) Containing quercifolia 

 iliafolia, and potatoria, of which he considers potatoria the most 

 generalised example. In the larvae of the first group — quercus, trifolii, 

 rubi, &c. — the secondary hairs are developed into a fur of loose hairs, 

 which readily rub off, and by their mechanical properties produce 

 urtication if they enter the skin. I have myself suffered greatly 

 from the effects of the hairs of L. quercus entering the skin of my 

 hand. A bad case, in which a boy's eye was injured owing to the 

 hairs of a larva of M. rubi entering, was discussed about a year 

 ago at the Entomological Society of London. 



The difference in the cocoons made by the larvas of the Lasiocampid 

 moths is very striking. E. laucstris, L. trifolii, and L. quercus make 

 the hard egg-shaped cocoons from which the name " Eggar " has been 

 derived, and which has most probably been carried on from the 

 Cochlidids, which make very similar ones. It is well known that 

 these cocoons are coloured by a fluid which is poured upon the silk 

 from the alimentary canal, and supposed to be a chlorophyll product, 

 and that they are hardened by a deposit of lime secreted in the 

 Malpighian tubules, and poured out from the anus upon the silk when 

 it has been woven. Starvation just previous to spinning, by not sup- 

 plying the larva with the requisite chlorophyll stain, results in the 

 formation of a pale-coloured cocoon. Some of the cocoons of 

 E. lanestris are dark coffee-coloured, and they vary through different 

 grades of intensity to white. Some of the cocoons of L. quercus 

 are pale brown • others, especially of callunce, are frequently almost 

 black. In fact, I consider the general darker coloration of the cocoon 

 of callunce to be due to the differences in the food-plant, since the 

 colouring matter is a direct derivative of the chlorophyll in the 

 food, the chlorophyll of some plants being notably darker than 

 others. 



The cocoons of Malacosoma neustria and M. castrensis, with their 

 pale yellow or sulphur-coloured particles of aragonite mixed with the 

 silk, are very different from those above described. Like the 

 above, though, it often happens that these cocoons lose their charac- 

 teristic colour, and are quite white. This form of cocoon is not unlike 

 that of C. potatoria, which is, however, more parchment-like; and this 

 again, except in colour, is not very dissimilar from that of E. querci- 

 folia, whilst it is very similar to that of E. ilicifolia. The cocoons of 

 P. populi and T. cratcegi are mixed with pieces of extraneous matter, 

 and as they are usually spun up in a crack in the bark, or even 

 under the surface of the ground, they bear considerable resemblance 

 to the cocoons of some Notodonts and Noctuids. The cocoon of 

 M. rubi is a very strongly modified form of the neustria cocoon, 

 forming a long tubular structure sometimes three or four inches long, 

 inside which the pupa moves up and down to take advantage of 

 the sun. 



The pupa is of the Obtect type. It has the fifth and sixth abdo- 

 minal segments free in both sexes, but it has a very generalised 



