3884 Insects. 



to await the success of the net which he had spread, and whence, had fortune proved 

 kind, he would have boldly rushed to secure the struggling prey. It happened, how- 

 ever, that no other insect had the misfortune to be imprisoned along with himself, and, 

 as already hinted, none can get in. There, on his watch-tower, he still remains as 

 motionless as a statue. There has the patient little animal continued for the space of 

 twelve long months, having taken up his position on the 3rd of October, 1851, and 

 kept watch and ward without having ever moved night or day, as far as could be ob- 

 served, except on three occasions, which, however, were so trifling, that they are not 

 worth mentioning. But this is not all, as will be anticipated. The animal being still 

 alive, it follows, as a natural consequence, that life has been sustained during all this 

 time without the least particle of food having been obtained. The little creature is 

 still as life-like as on the first day of his imprisonment.' This circumstance is not a 

 little curious, and, to the naturalist, the fact must be of some value. Mr. Edwards 

 adds that the longest period during which, so far as he can learn, spiders have been 

 ascertained to have lived without food, is ten months.'' — From the ' Banffshire Jour- 

 nal] October, 1852. 



Some Remarks on the Habits of the Hesperidce. — Most writers on Entomology 

 state that the majority of the Hesperida? rest with the fore-wings vertical, while the 

 hind ones are horizontal. This is certainly the case with many of the species with 

 which we are best acquainted ; but in the great majority of exotic species the wings 

 are carried either vertically, as in most other diurnal butterflies, or expanded horizon- 

 tally, as in many Geometrae, and occasionally some Nymphalidae. I do not remem- 

 ber having seen any of the Hesperias carry their wings deflexed, as the Castnias and 

 Noctuidas generally do. During my residence in Brazil, I noted accurately these va- 

 rious modes of repose in all the species I captured, but most of the ticketed specimens 

 and my notes referring to them are unfortunately lost. I am inclined to think, how- 

 ever, that this character will serve to divide the family into two, or perhaps three, na- 

 tural groups. On looking over my own collection, I find about 150 species which sit 

 with their wings erect ; about 50 with expanded wings ; and but very few, which I 

 cannot now determine with certainty, which carry the fore-wings only erect. On re- 

 ferring to Messrs. Doubleday and AVestwood's work on the genera of butterflies, I find 

 that the species of the first division, such as Antoninus, Rhetus, Exodeus, Amyclas, 

 Gnetus, fulgurator, Celeus and Proteus, belong to the genera Pyrrophyga, Ericides, 

 Goniurus and Goniloba, and some species of Pamphila, as P. Epictetus. Of the se- 

 cond division, such as Thyreus, Oreus, Herenius, obscurus, &c, to the genera Pyrgus, 

 Nisoniades and Achylodes. Those of the third division appear to belong to the genus 

 Pamphila, but certainly do not include all the species. Some of the long- tailed spe- 

 cies, such as Goniurus Proteus &c, sometimes expand their wings in the morning sun, 

 as do some of the Epiealias, Ericinas, and several others ; but their true habit is to 

 rest with their wings erect. I once bred a species of this family, which offered some 

 peculiarities. The larva was long, cylindrical, smooth, pubescent, and green ; it fed 

 on the plantain. The pupa was suspended horizontally beneath a leaf of the same 

 plant, and braced; it was pale green, and the head pointed ; but the greatest peculi- 

 arity consisted in the spiral tongue being contained in a free external sheath, forming 



