NOTES ON COLLECTING. 345 



on August 1st, I am glad to report that the whole of the larvae success- 

 fully pupated. The weather keeping very open, I somewhat deferred 

 removing the pup^ from their habitations for the purpose of forcing 

 them. An imago, a male, emerging crippled on the evening of 

 October 18th, I removed the remaining pup^e on the following day. 

 Pending the getting of my forcing apparatus ready, I placed the pupte 

 on earth in two wooden boxes, having gauze coverings at the top, and 

 removed them to the kitchen, the weather having turned very cold. 

 The pupfe, beyond being very lively, showed no signs of an early 

 emergence of the perfect insects, and I v/as rather surprised, upon 

 taking a final peep of them at midnight, to find, in one of the boxes, 

 two imagines, a male and a female, on their backs on the earth, kicking 

 violently. How long they had been in this position I cannot say, but 

 possibly for some little time. They had apparently emerged and failed 

 to do what imagines of other species had found no difficulty in doing, 

 that is to climb up the rough wooden sides of the box to the gauze 

 covering at the top. This may have been due to the hooks at the end 

 of their legs with which the species is provided not being suitable for the 

 purpose. The two imagines which had emerged, immediately clung 

 to my finger as it was offered to them in turn, squeaking while doing 

 so. They fancied my rough coat for holding to, but, after some 

 little trouble, and several minutes' delay, I succeeded in getting them 

 to secure a good hold on the gauze. I observed that until they had 

 managed to get a firm hold, their wings did not commence to grow. 

 When I left them at two in the morning neither of the insects had 

 entirely completed their growth nor folded their wings. The remain- 

 ing two pupse I placed in my forcing apparatus, and obtained perfect 

 insects from them. The first, a female, emerged on October 24th, 

 during my absence from home, and apparently between 7 and 9 p.m., 

 as at eleven o'clock I found it with its wings folded. The remaining 

 one, also a female, emerged on the following day at 10.15 p.m., I was 

 at home at the time, and observed that, as it came up from the moss 

 in the pot, and climbed up the twigs to the gauze to secure a hold, it 

 squeaked almost as loudly as a mouse does. It was quite two hours 

 after emergence before the insect had finished groAving its wings and 

 drying them, and it was not until 12.15 a.m. on the following morning 

 that it had folded its wings. Two of the pupje measured 2i" in 

 length, and the remaining three 2f". I had rather bad luck with the 

 male imago which emerged on October 19th. I placed it in the 

 killing bottle at 8-80 a.m. on the following (Saturday) morning, and on 

 my return from town at 3 p.m. I found it still alive, the killing- bottle 

 having almost entirely failed to act. The insect, moreover, had exuded a 

 whitish fluid, by rolling in which it had completely spoiled its wings. 

 After removing it from the killing-bottle it almost entirely recovered 

 from the effects of the cyanide. This left me with three perfect 

 specimens, all females, two of which measure 5" across the wings, and 

 the third 5-|". Although I have referred to the squeaking of the 

 insect I am by no means satisfied that this is a correct term to use. 

 The noise emitted appears to me to be produced by a movement of the 

 joints, or some of the joints, of the legs. The curious thing about it 

 to my mind is that apparently the insect can emit the sound or not as 

 it pleases, and it generally does so if alarmed. — A. Eusskll, F.E.S., 

 Southend near Catford. Octoher 28th, 1900. 



