ON JUMPING COCOONS FllOM S. AFEICA. 325 



fauna of Spain is to be found in the extreme infertility and 

 aridity of a large portion of its surface. If similar conditions 

 prevailed at the time of the glacial epoch, it must have told 

 severely against the survival of many forms which entirely de- 

 pended upon its southern sanctuary for their propagation. Upon 

 milder climatic conditions ensuing, the remnants advanced up 

 the slopes of the Pyrenean chain to their present stations. It 

 will thus be seen that the alpine forms occurring in the range 

 must have been in large measure indirectly derived from Spain. 

 The most curious thing about it is that there are so few endemic 

 species and peculiar varieties occurring in consequence through- 

 out the chain. 



It is evident that many factors must be constantly kept in 

 view in estimating the why and the wherefore of the present 

 distribution and derivation of the Khopalocera in the Pyrenees. 



Birmingham, October 1st, 1896. 



ON JUMPING COCOONS FKOM S. AFRICA. 

 By D. Sharp, M.D., F.R.S., &c. 



At the last meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Society, 

 Mr. Rickard kindly gave me two small oval objects known as 

 *' jumping cocoons." He had brought them from S. Africa some 

 years previously, his attention having been attracted to them 

 there by the fact that these apparently inanimate, earthen- 

 looking objects execute considerable leaps, even managing to 

 spring out of a small vessel, such as a tumbler, in which they 

 may be placed. Some of the insects had emerged from the 

 cocoons during the voyage from Africa to England, but Mr. 

 Rickard had not preserved any of them, and all he recollected 

 was that they were flies that hold their wings in a roof-like 

 position. As the two cocoons given to me were intact, it was 

 probable that they contained some remains, and I consequently 

 investigated them with the hope of discovering something un- 

 usual that would explain the powers of jumping. I discovered 

 inside what certainly is one of the most interesting pupse I have 

 ever seen. The order of insects to which it belongs is some- 

 what uncertain, but I consider it will prove to be an anomalous 

 lepidopterous insect allied to Trichoptera. 



But first as to the cocoons. These do not look like the 

 cocoons of Lepidoptera, their appearance being that of a small 

 piece of oval pottery, 5 mm. long, with a rough surface. They 

 have a considerable thickness, and when broken open the inside 

 is like the outside, though rather less rough ; there is no silken 

 lining, no polished surface. In each of the two cocoons I found 

 a pupa ; the two were quite similar, and I have no doubt belong 



