132 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



Ovum. — Roughly elliptical in outline, although flattened at the 

 sides and ends, a deep oval depression not quite central on the upper sur- 

 face (one of the long sides); the shape varies, in some the micropylar end 

 is slightly narrower, in others it is rather wider than its nadir; roughly 

 the length : breadth : height : : 4 : 3 : 3 ; the surface is shiny, polished 

 (looks to the naked eye almost as if varnished), but covered with 

 a very fine polygonal reticulation ; pale grey in colour with dark 

 fawn (inclining to brown) shading about the more prominent parts 

 of the egg ; the micropyle proper forms a deep, minute blue-black 

 point placed in a small, rounded olive-brown spot at (usually) the 

 blunter end of egg ; the micropyle consists of very minute rounded 

 cells centrally, which grade off into the polygonal surface cells ; 

 the olive-brown outer spot is in its turn placed centrally in a white 

 patch [Described April 12th, 1897, under a two-thirds lens from 

 eggs laid March 27th, 1897; received from Mr. Butler of Reading]. 

 The eggs referred to (anted,, vol. ii., p. 436) as attached to a 

 stone, and as being possibly those of L. var. callunae, were, we have 

 now no doubt, those of M. rubi. The description that we made of them 

 reads as follows: i'8mm. long, i*2mm. broad, nmm. high; almost 

 a perfect oval in outline, but rather broader and very slightly 

 flattened at the micropylar end. The upper surface with a slight 

 oval central depression (that looks darker than the surrounding 

 surface, but is not in reality so). The colour of the egg is pure 

 white, very minutely pitted, but with no markings except a few 

 scattered, minute, opalescent, greyish - brown patches around the 

 shoulder of the egg. The floor of the shallow micropylar basin is 

 also greyish-brown in colour with a minute central raised white 

 point (the micropyle proper) [Described June 29th, 1898, under a 

 two-thirds lens, from eggs sent by Mr. Gordon, who found them 

 on a stone by the side of a loch in Wigtownshire]. Bacot notes 

 the egg as z'imm. in length, i*6mm. in width, and 1-5111111. in 

 thickness; the micropylar end slightly larger than its nadir; out- 

 line forms a short, rather rounded oval only slightly flattened on 

 sides ; of a dull brownish-grey, the flattened area of the sides being 

 of a darker olive-grey, and with two similarly coloured bands or 

 lines round the edges and ends ; the micropyle marked by a distinct 

 dark spot, and there is a slightly marked dark dash on the nadir ; 

 opaque, of a strong horny appearance, surface highly varnished, a 

 small and very faint network or reticulation is to be seen, the 

 reticulations becoming finer and more sharply marked towards the 

 micropyle [Described June 7th, 1900, from eggs received from 

 Rev. G. H. Raynor of Hazeleigh]. 



Egg-parasites. — 2100 examples of Telenomus phalaenarum were 

 bred from 200 eggs of this species (Bignell), see also anted, vol. i., p. 14, 

 also Le Nat., i., p. 4., where the Marquis de Lafitole briefly records "a 

 number of Chrysides" bred from these eggs, and pp. 29-30 where Lafaury 

 comments on this record, and points out that the Marquis omits 

 to say whether one parasite or more infested each egg, but that 

 neither Reaumur (t. vi., Man. ix., p. 295) nor Degeer (t. i., p. 592) 

 had observed more than one from each ; on the other hand his 

 (Lafaury's) friend, M. Alexandre Duverger, had an infested batch of 

 eggs in which it was found on examination that the number of 

 parasites to each was invariably seven, 



