SOLENOBIA. 159 



the wool from the anal tuft, the egg-laying occupying some 6-8 hours, 

 when they generally fall from the case. Larva? emerged in from 5-6 

 weeks, but refused to feed on lichens gathered from the rocks, and 

 died. The same observer then recounts how he obtained cases (of 

 S. triqmtrella) from Eatisbon, put each one in a separate box, but 

 obtained only females, from the eggs laid by which, however, numbers 

 of larvae hatched. These latter made cases from the maternal cases 

 and sand, fed on nearly dry leaves of various low plants, a fact that 

 led him to surmise that in nature the larva? probably lived near the 

 ground and only crawled upon lichen -covered tree-trunks and rocks to 

 pupate. During moulting (four moults observed) the cases were spun 

 down firmly, and by the commencement of September the larva? were 

 full grown, and hid under bark and stones, and remained quiet during 

 the winter, coining from their winter retreats in March, at the end 

 of which month they pupated, emerging again in April — entirely 

 females. One would suspect from this account that these broods (bred 

 ab ovo) which produced only parthenogenetic females, belong to the 

 species we have later described as S. lichenella. In April, 1858, in the 

 Eeichswald, at Erlangen, Hofmann found several cases about l-2ft. 

 from the ground on pine-trunks, specially well covered with plant 

 debris, in a place where Spartium, heather and grass were growing in 

 abundance, but the imagines had emerged. However, on April 

 (? March) 15th, 1859, he found 16 cases containing pupa?, and from 

 April 8th-12th, 6^ and 4 ? emerged, the latter differing vastly in their 

 habits from those just previously observed, for these remained 

 seated on the cases as if awaiting copulation, and those that were not 

 allowed to copulate laid no eggs, although they remained 14 days 

 seated on their cases before dropping off, whilst one which was allowed 

 to pair began to oviposit a few minutes later. The different behaviour 

 of the parthenogenetic and sexuated females led to the supposition 

 that they must be different species, but a number of females — obtained 

 from pupa? reared from unfertilised eggs and coming partly from 

 Eatisbon and partly from Erlangen — being available, Hofmann placed 

 a freshly emerged male Avith two parthenogenetic females then laying, 

 but although the male fluttered round them they took no notice and 

 continued to lay ; but when he placed the male with a newly emerged 

 parthenogenetic female, that still sat on its case with raised abdomen, 

 there was an immediate copulation. This, as well as the fact that no 

 difference could be detected between freshly emerged sexuated and 

 parthenogenetic females, confirmed Hofmann in the opinion that the 

 females, though differing in their manner of reproduction, were one 

 species (viz., S. triqmtrella, F. v. E.), with whose description the male 

 entirely agrees. The thick covering of the cases from the Eeichswald 

 is considered to be of no importance, because at Eatisbon, and 

 elsewhere at Erlangen, similar cases had been found ; the different 

 behaviour of the females agrees with the observations of others on th's 

 species — some to the effect that males and females occur in equal 

 numbers, which are reproduced by copulation [Fischer von Eoslerstamm 

 at Dresden (Abbild., &c, p. 87), Eeutti at Baden, Leukart at Freiburg] , 

 whereas others have only observed females which reproduced 

 parthenogenetically (Wocke at Breslau, Speyer at Wildungen in 

 Waldeck, Eeutti at Lahr). From this Hofmann concludes that 

 8, tritjuetrella appears under two forms, a sexuated and parthenogenetic 



