1897.] Entomology. 165 
next spring. But the development of the chrysalis having been artific- 
ally hastened, the parasite had no time to cause its death, and the ex- 
haustion of vital juices was not sufficient to prevent the final metamor- 
phosis. Hence the phenomenon of a half-grown parasite being found 
in the body of a perfect moth. 
“The eventual death of the moth from the action of the parasite is 
probable, but not quite certain. It would seem to depend upon two 
doubtful questions: (1) What is the natural duration of the life of an 
Atropos? and (2) Would the robust constitution of which proof has 
already been given, enable it to hold out till the parasite had escaped 
from its body? The single perforation of the cuticle necessary to per- 
mit the issue of the ichneumon might not be mortal in its effects. The 
fatal result in other cases is believed to depend partly upon the break- 
-ing up of the tracheal system by numerous perforations, and partly upon 
exhaustion of the vital forces. The moth in question would only be 
subject to the first of these injuries in a very mild degree ; and its great 
bulk and strength might enable it, as heretofore, to defy the second. 
It seems, therefore, not unreasonable to suppose that, if left to nature, 
it would ultimately have recovered.” 
A Viviparous Ephemerid.—M. Causard records’ the following 
interesting observations the Ephemerid Chlæopsis diptera Latr. ‘‘ This 
‘Species is very common in houses at the end of summer and the com- 
mencement of autumn, when these insect attach themselves to the 
windows or the ceilings, and there rest immovable, their two wings 
turned back, and applied one against the other, the posterior part of 
the abdomen terminated by two long filaments, turned back upon the 
dorsal aspect. The same insect may be observed in the same place for 
several days. Having captured a large number of them, I have been 
able to keep them for more than three weeks before they laid their eggs. 
I have found it impossible to fix exactly the duration of their existence, 
because at the time of capture I did not know how long they had 
emerged from the nymph state. However, that may be, there are 
Ephemerz which have but little title to the name. This relatively 
long existence in the adult state is in accord with their processes of re- 
production. 
“ Desiring one day to study the circulation of the blood in one of 
these insects, in the living state, which I supposed to be sufficiently 
‘transparent for the purpose, I took one of them and placed it between 
two plates of hollowed glass. The pressure of these plates caused a 
~ *Comptes Rendus, CXXIII, 705; Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., v, I8, p. 481. 
p 
