50 BBITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



twig, shooting out from the main stalk of a large honeysuckle-bine ; it 

 is made of a honeysuckle leaf, which has been first partly bitten 

 through near its axil, and then securely fixed by its two edges, for about 

 half its length, to the twig from which it grows, and across which its 

 edges are firmly bound together with a spinning of strong silk ; just 

 at the point where the leaf meets the underside of the twig, there is a 

 circular aperture, apparently designed for the egress of the larva in 

 spring ; as the leaf withers the hybernaculum becomes puckered, and 

 little more than half-an-inch in length, and has the appearance of a 

 small shrivelled leaf, clinging to the dry stem, and would thus easily 

 escape ordinary observation. 



The larvae of Erebia aethiops commence to hybernate . in October, 

 when exceedingly small, hiding in the thickest parts of the tufts of 

 grass with which they may be supplied. They commence to feed again 

 in early spring, as soon as the grass commences to grow, and are 

 fullfed in May and June. 



The larvae of Hipparchia semele hybernate small, remaining on the 

 grass all the winter, and show no tendency to burrow or hide ; they 

 feed a little all the winter in suitable weather, but do not grow 

 perceptibly till the spring. 



The larvae of Enodia hyperanthus, Epinephele ianira, Coenonympha 

 pamphilus, etc., require considerable attention in confinement during 

 the winter ; they appear to nibble occasionally, during mild weather, 

 from November to March, growing very slowly, or not at all, but 

 making good progress later. Enodia hyperanthus, in particular, appears 

 to hide as much as possible from the daylight during the hybernating 

 period. 



These ''hints," as to obtaining eggs of butterflies, are extracted 

 from our work Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist, and are 

 inserted as illustrations of the various details to which the attention of 

 the seeker for, and breeder of, the larvae of butterflies must be directed. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE SILK-SPINNING HABIT IN BUTTERFLY LARVAE. 



The silk-spinning habit is common to almost all lepidopterous 

 larvae. The larval spinneret appears to be homologous with the 

 hypopharynx of insects of other orders. The homology of the different 

 parts, Packard says, is apparently identical, the common duct of the 

 silk-glands or sericteries opening at the end of the hypopharynx, which 

 here forms a complete tube, or proboscis, extending beyond the end of 

 the labium, and being then modified into the spinneret in adaptation 

 to its use as a spinning organ. The silk thread which issues from the 

 spinneret was discovered by Leeuwenhoeck to consist of a double ribbon- 

 like band, due to the silk-glands each forming a cylindrical thread of 

 silk, surrounded by a layer of gum ; the two threads having passed into 

 the common duct receive the secretion of Filippi's gland, where the silken 

 fluid is formed, and, passing into the common canal, enter the orifice 

 of the spinning canal, almost completely divided into two by the sharp 



