MACROTHYLACIIDI. 123 



appear to be much nearer to the Eutrichids {sens, strict.*) than to 

 the Macrothylaciids, and the structural peculiarities of the blown 

 larvae of M. punctata support this view, showing distinct affinities 

 with Dendrolimus pini, Cosmotriche potatoria, etc. There is, it is true, 

 in the larva of M. punctata, an indication of a scanty dorsal fur similar 

 to that of the larva of M. rubi, yet the strongly developed lateral 

 thoracic pencils, and the transverse meso- and metathoracic dorsal 

 tufts of hairs, convey the idea that the position is much nearer to the 

 lower Eutrichids than to Macrothylacia. One is forced, by these 

 and other considerations, to the conclusion that the subfamily 

 Metanastriinae belongs really at the base of the Eutrichid stem, 

 and that the Macrothylaciids, originating within the Metanastriid 

 phylum, must be grouped therewith and not with the true 

 Lachnei-d (or Lasiocampine) stem. It will be interesting, when 

 opportunity offers, to examine the early stages of many of the 

 species at present included in the British Museum collection under 

 the generic name Metanastria* 



At the meeting of the Entomological Society of London, May ist, 

 1 90 1, Hampson exhibited two females of an apterous Lachneid from 

 the Transvaal, with cocoon and ova, bred by Colonel J. M. Fawcett, 

 5th Lancers. The larva, he states, is very much like that of the 

 British Macrothylacia rubi. The female does not emerge from the 

 cocoon, its antennae being aborted and all the joints coalesced 

 with a nabellate organ with slight striae indicating the joints, the 

 fore tibiae short with traces of tibial claws. The male is unknown, 

 and as Colonel Fawcett was on active service at the time of 

 the emergence of the female, he was unable to expose her for the 

 purpose of attracting the male. 



Vangel notes a case of parthenogenesis in M. rubi {Rovart. Lapok, 

 hi., pp. ix and 59). St. George, in the Arch. Mikros. Anat., xxx., 

 p. 429, pi. xxv, has used the larva of this species, amongst others, 

 for his investigations into the formation of spermatocysts. 



Tribe : Macrothylaciidi. 

 Genus : Macrothylacia, Rambur. 

 Synonymy. — Genus : Macrothylacia, Rbr., '• Cat. Lep. And.," pp. 352, 358 

 360 (1866) ; Kirby, " Cat.," p. 834 (1892) ; Auriv., " Iris," vn\, p 152 (1894) \ D ) rar 

 " Can. Ent.," xxx., pp. 4, 5 (1898) ; Tutt, " Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. Soc," 1898, pp, 

 i-ii (1898) ; Grote, " Illus. Zeits. fur Ent.," iii., p. 70 (1898) ; Staud., " Cat.," 3rd 

 ed., p. 122 (1901). Phalaena (-Bombyx) , Linn., " Sys. Nat.," xth ed. , p. 498 (1758) 

 xiith. ed., p. 813 (1767) ; " Faun. Suec," 2nd ed., p. 292 (1761); Mull., "Faun 

 Frid.," p. 39 (1764); "Zool. Dan. Prod.," p. 117(1776); Esp., " Schmett. Eur.," iii. 

 p. 69 (1783) ; Vill., " Linn. Ent.," ii., p. 122 (1789) ; Bkh , " Sys. Besch.," iii., p 

 99(1790); " Rhein. Mag.," i., p. 364 (1793). Phalaena, Scop., "Ent. Carn.," p 

 J 97 U763); Fuess., " Verz.," p. 34 (1775); Meyer, " Fuess. Mag.," i., p. 269(1778) 

 Goze, "Ent. Beit.," iii., p. 267 (1781); Retz.,'"G-en. et Spec. Ins.," p. 36 (1783) 

 Briinn, "Fuess. Neu. Mag.," iii., p. 71 (1785); Brahm, "Fuess. Neu. Mag.," iii., pp 

 I45> H9> 157 (1787)- Bombyx, Fab., '• Sys. Ent.," p. 565 (1775); " Sp. Ins.,"ii., p 

 178 (1781) ; " Mant. Ins.," ii., p. 113 (1787) ; "Ent. Sys.," iii., pt. I, p. 427 (1793) 

 [Schiff.,] " Schmett. Wien.," p. 56 (i775)t; Esp., " Schmett. Eur.," iii., pi. ix., figs 

 1-6 (1782) ; View., " Tab. Verz.," p. 34 (1789) ; Brahm, " Ins. Kal.," p. 197 (1790) 

 Don., " Nat. Hist. B. Ins.," ii., p. 87 (1793); Hb -» " Larv. Lep.," iii., Bomb. ii. 



*One suspects that this genus forms the Lachneid dustbin, used by the Brit 

 Museum authorities for those Macrothylaciids, Eutrichids, etc., that were not provided 

 with distinct generic names when described, and whose facies hardly rank them with 

 the higher Eutrichids, and certainly exclude them from the Pachygastriids. 



t On the original date and title of the "Vienna Catalogue," vide, Ann. Mag. 

 Nat. Hist. (7), vi., p. 158. 



