71 



be hardly perceptible. In the Stettin ' Entomologische Zeitunu' for 1858 a German 

 entomologist, of the name of Schmidt, had observed that none of his females of 

 O. Ericae emerged from the cocoon, but not expecting such a habit, and being un- 

 aware of any previous similar observations, he had allowed them to remain and to die 

 in their cocoons without any opportunity of pairing with the males. Herr Schmidt 

 had, with true caution, not ventured to announce this anomalous habit as an esta- 

 blished fact, but possibly as an accidental occurrence, which, however, rendered further 

 observations desirable. Dr. Breyer, of Brussels, had lately made further observations 

 respecting the female of O. Ericse. But the most extraordinary observation that had 

 yet appeared was in the last number of the Stettin ' Entomologische Zeitung,' where 

 there was an account of the habits of O. dubia (a species not uncommon in the South 

 of Russia), by Herr Christoph. The female of that species never left the cocoon ; but 

 instead of the male copulating with it through a hole at the end of the cocoon, 

 he went into the interior of the cocoon, and copulation took place there, after which 

 the male came out of the cocoon in a very deplorable condition, and not exactly fitted 

 for a cabinet specimen. Of the six European species of the genus Orgyia, of which 

 the females were known, it thus appeared that in four, the female never left the cocoon, 

 the only two in which the female emerged from the cocoon being O. antiqua and 

 O. gonostigma. 



Mr. Stainton remarked that he had not himself had opportunities of observing the 

 habits of the female of O. gonostigma, but possibly some gentleman present might be 

 able to speak as to its quitting the cocoon. Looking at the specimens exhibited of 

 O. EricsB, O. gonostigma and O. antiqua, it wonld appear that the development of the 

 legs in O. gonostigma was intermediate between the other two species; and doubtless 

 the habits of the species, in quitting or not quilting the cocoon, corresponded with the 

 greater or less development of the legs. 



Mr. Shepherd stated that he had seen the living female of 0. gonostigma, and that 

 it did leave the cocoon. 



Note on Xenocerus semiluctuosus. 



Mr. Pascoe exhibited Xenocerus semiluctuosus, one of the Anthribidae from the 

 Moluccas, and read the following note thereon : — 



" I have brought for exhibition specimens of Xenocerus semiluctuosus, Blanch., 

 two males and a female. The female differs remarkably from both, but one of the 

 males is in the normal condition ; the other is an example of * dimorphism' ; it is, 

 in fact, so very different as to be readily taken for a distinct species. The whole 

 antenna is scarcely longer than the penultimate joint of the normal male, while that 

 joint in the dimorphous male is the shortest, if we except the first and third ; indeed, 

 nearly all the joints vary in relative length to an extraordinary degree. The differ- 

 ences between the two forms are generally very striking, and I need not enlarge upon 

 them. Although I have seen specimens with the antennae shorter than in the normal, 

 and longer than in the dimorphous male, yet, so far as I know, there is a wide interval 

 between the two forms, which, however, it is not unlikely may be filled up. There are 

 four other species of Xenocerus known to me, and in each of them this dimorphous 

 form occurs. I have also noticed it in two species of the allied genus Mecocerus. 

 That a modification in one or other of some organs occasionally takes place in insects, 

 I have long been convinced. When drawing up the list of Longicornia for Sir 

 E. Tennent's work on Ceylon, I was so satisfied that Olenecamptus serratus, Ckev., 



