CURRENT NOTES. 



2'2S 



])hi;edinthe Hifpsiddc, whore it is closely allied to Nyctoiu-ra, L'al- 

 larctia and other genera, and that the fully developed proboscis, the 

 uon-pectinate anteiiiuo, the smoother scaling, the n_iore diurnal habit, 

 and the larv;e being scantily clothed with hair all bore out the correct- 

 ness of this association. 



At the sanie meeting Di-. Chapman exhibited a portion of a stem 

 of Ferula eoniiiiunis from the He St. INlarguerite, near Cannes, showing 

 ]m])R-ca,seti ot Lir.n/icra /ixDiciUonana. The larva feeds in the flower- 

 heads and seeds, and burrows into the stem for hybernation. It does 

 so anywhere, but in the majority of cases under the protection of the 

 great sheathing petioles at the lower joints. As many as 30 or 40 

 and even 50 holes of entry may often be counted immediately above 

 one node, ^^'hen the larva pierces the stem it is full grown, and the 

 entry holes ai"e as large as or larger than those of exit. Dr. Chapman 

 doubted whether it eats any of the material when it is freshest at the 

 date of entry. The burrows in the stem are full of bitten but 

 undigested material. These burrows proceed in all directions, but 

 most frequently upwards, for several inches, often as much as eight or 

 ten inches, and then approach the surface, and the burrowing appears 

 to go on all the winter. In February and March larva? may be found 

 that have not completed their burrows. On completion the burroAv 

 approaches the surface, and the opening is of full calibre, but a 

 delicate film of tissue is left to be ruptured by the emerging pupa. A 

 number of vacant holes were also visible, being the exit of an ichneu- 

 mon, which otfects a. large majority of this Tortricid. The species 

 Avas believed to be ( 'hchoins inanition, Nees. The heads of several dead 

 ones that failed to emerge successfully were to be seen at some of the 

 boles. Dr. Chapman said he had placed a black circle round four 

 holes as prepared by the larva of the Tortricid for emergence, that were 

 still intact, and in two of these it was to be noted that the diaphragm 

 was, as he had described, the cuticular tissue of the plant ; in the two- 

 others, however, this had been damaged, and here the larva had made 

 a silken diaphragm fortified with chips of the stem tissue. In the 

 neighbourhood of the node especially the holes of entry were to l)e 

 seen packed tightly with frass, which appeared to be uneaten materiaL 

 At the same meeting Mr. F. Enock exhibited living specimens of 

 male and female lUuiatra linearis, Linn., from Epping, together with 

 the peculiar forked eggs, which he had observed laid by the lianatra^ 

 as it rested upon the upper surface of the leaf grasping the edges with 

 its claws. The short anterior legs are held well up close together, in 

 a line with the body, the head raised about an inch from the leaf, 

 while the tip of the abdomen (and ovipositor) is pressed against the 

 leaf — a downward and forward movement being given. The ovipositor 

 is thus forced through the leaf, then partially withdrawn and the egg- 

 extruded and forced into the hole as far as the forked filaments, which 

 prevent it froiu going right through the leaf. The eggs are frequently 

 laid in the half-decayed stems of aquatic plants. The peculiar 

 PnaUriclna aquatica, Lubbock, has been bred from the eggs of lianatra^ 

 At the same meeting — Mr. Merrifield exhibited a number of pupae 

 of Aporia cratur</i, and called attention to the want of correspondence 

 between the markings on the pupal and those on the imaginal wing. 

 On the latter, as is well known, there are no spots, only darkened 

 nervures, the darkness spreading out a little on the outer margin, but 



