67 



to speak, are stippled over the whole of the undersides of the wings 

 of the wet season form M. ismene. 



To sum up, the wet season form of the Junonia is, on the under- 

 side, decidedly much lighter than that produced in the dry season, 

 the upper side presenting no difference ; the wet season form of the 

 Melanitis is, on the under side usually greyish, and lighter than the 

 dry season form, which latter is generally brown, sometimes even of 

 a rich chocolate ; the upper side presenting little or no difference in 

 the two seasonal forms. 



I may add, in conclusion, that there are several genera of Eastern 

 Satyrinas which are horseomorphic, and in which the two forms are 

 differentiated in a similar manner to that dealt with. I think it 

 possible that a careful investigation of some of our own species of 

 Satyrinse might establish some connection between the humidity of 

 the locality with an ocellate form, in such species as Cceiionyvipha 

 typhon and Epinepheh hyperanthes , and the converse in dry districts. 



Notes on the Cocoons of Eriogaster lanestris, L. 



By R. Adkin, F.E.S. Read February 2^th, 1892. 



It will be remembered that Mr. Poulton had, after many experi- 

 ments, come to the conclusion that the hght colour of the cocoons 

 of this and many other species was due to special environment at 

 the time of construction {Colours of Animals, pp. 144-45; Proc. 

 Ent. Soc. Lond., 1887, pp. 1, H) ; on the other hand, Mr. Bateson 

 had sought to show that it was affected rather by the larvae having 

 become sickly or been subjected to undue disturbance at the time 

 of its forming its cocoon {Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1891, p. xxxvii ; and 

 Trans. Ent. Soc, 1892, p. 45). Mr. Poulton, with the assistance of 

 Professor Meldola, had further investigated the manner in which the 

 cocoons were constructed, and had established the fact that they 

 were chiefly composed of calcium oxalate, secreted by the malpighian 

 tubules of the larvse, and plastered on a very open framework of silk 

 previously constructed {Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1891, p. xv). 



On the occasion of this Society's excursion to Eynsford, on 20th 

 June last, I took two nests of larvae of this species from blackthorn 

 bushes, the larvae were then about | to i inch in length, and on 

 reaching home I put the nests, with the larvae in them, in large green 

 leno bags on growing trees in my garden ; the one on whitethorn, 

 the other on wild plum. This food lasted them for some weeks ; 

 but upon their approaching full growth the supply began to run 

 short, and they were moved to fresh trees, this time both on 

 plum, and from time to time, as the food ran short, they were moved 

 to fresh branches until they eventually pupated ; an abundance of 



