98 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



On emergence from the cocoon the eggs in the ovaries are not 

 fully developed and egg-laying does not commence for three or 

 four days, sometimes a week. Eggs are laid singly, attached by 

 their sides to a surface, but sometimes in groups of up to seven 

 in number. The favourite positions are (1) a quarter of an inch 

 from tip of pine needle on inner flat face of same ; (2) under the 

 scaly wrapping at the base of a pair of needles and hidden from 

 view. In the first case the female crawls up the needle until the 

 tip is reached ; then, on finding she can go no further, the egg is 

 deposited at her body's length from the tip. Less often eggs are 

 laid anywhere on the twigs and needles. 



Description of egg. — Size -7 mm. x -3 mm. Elongate oval, rounded 

 at both ends, but varying slightly in shape. The surface is smooth, 

 broken by many small granular pits. At the . micropylar end of the 

 egg is a small white knob. Colour yellowish white when first laid, 

 but in about six days (at 60° F.) colour darkens to orange brown, and 

 a day or so before hatching the eyes of embryo are visible as black 

 dots through the shell at the micropylar end. Average length of egg 

 stage is 9 days at 60° R, or 27 to 36 days in winter at 45° P. 

 approximately. 



The larva makes its escape by a small irregular rent in the egg- 

 shell, and is at first of a pale yellowish colour. . In two or three days 

 the head markings appear, sometimes also markings on the body, 

 but these latter are usually only visible in the second instar. 



Description of third instar larva. — Body almost naked, fusiform, 

 cream-coloured, pale brown or pink, with two longitudinal chocolate- 

 coloured bands. Head dirty white with a brown wedge-shaped central 

 mark widening from behind forwards. Sides of head brown. Eyes 

 black. Antennae blackish, as also are labial palpi. Jaws dark coloured, 

 brown or blackish, composed of mandibles and maxillae united to form 

 a tube through which juices of victims are sucked. Body colour is 

 variable, usually creamy white. There is a fine median dorsal dark 

 brown or black longitudinal line, a pair of dorso-lateral longitudinal 

 chocolate-coloured bands, which may be continuous or interrupted at 

 each segment or barely visible. Generally there is also a lateral 

 brown line on each side. Embedded in the dorso-lateral bands of the 

 three thoracic segments are paired shiny greyish-brown sclerites — 

 attachments for muscles. The legs are smoky white in colour, black 

 at the knees ; tarsi also darker. 



Length of larva when full fed about 7 mm. There are three larval 

 instars. 



Contrary to general opinion* the larvae of Hemerobius do not 

 cover themselves with skins ; the habit is, however, characteristic 

 of some species of Chrysopa. 



* McLachlan, 'Mon. Brit. Neur. Plan.,' p. 175, 1868, and ' Cambridge Nat. Hist. 

 Insecta,' pt. i, p. 468. 



