Insects. 



8781 



be called a ring-. Head prone, scarcely so wide as the body : body of nearly uniform 

 width, the divisions of the segments rather strongly marked ; the 2nd segment has two 

 fascicles of hair, porrected in front directly over the head ; the hairs composing these 

 tufts are of different lengths, and each is ciliated along its shaft and tufted at the ex- 

 tremity : the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th segments have each an erect, median, dorsal brush ; 

 the 5th and 6th segments have also a thin fascicle of hair on each side projecting out- 

 wards; the 10th and 11th segments have each a circular, dorsal, valvular opening ; 

 the 12th segment has a thin fascicle of long hairs slanting backwards; this fascicle is 

 composed of two kinds of hairs, those in the middle simple, those on the outside longer 

 and of two lengths, but both having the shall ciliated and the extremity tufted ; the 

 3rd, 4lh, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th segments have each eight wart-like protuberances, 

 each of which emits a radiating fascicle of stiff hairs ; the 5th, 6ih, 7th and 8th seg- 

 ments have each three such waits on each side. Head black and shining ; labium 

 and base of antennal papillae white: body with a broad, median, dorsal stripe extend- 

 ing from the 5th. to the 12th segment, velvety black ; the dorsal brushes generally 

 ochreous, but subject to great variation, being frequently tinged more or less with 

 smoke-colour, especially at the summit; sometimes, although rarely, these tufts are 

 entirely black : the valvular openings are coral-red ; the sides of the body are gray, 

 with a pale longitudinal mark on each side of the llth and 12th segments ; adjoining 

 the black dorsal stripe there is an indistinct pale lateral stripe, embracing the spiracles; 

 the 2nd, 3rd and 4th segments are beautifully variegated, principally with black and 

 red ; the tufted fascicles on the 2nd and 6th segments are black ; the warts are red, 

 and most of the hairs not otherwise described are pale yellow : the ventral surface, 

 legs and claspers are pale. There is not, however, any part of the larva absolutely 

 constant in colour, the tendency being to a darker hue than I have described. When 

 full-fed the larva spins a delicate, but compact, web over the surface of a brick, a stone, 

 the bark of a tree, or any other enduring surface: this is composed chiefly of silk, but 

 is invariably interspersed with a a great number of the hairs of the larva ; beneath this 

 web it changes to a pupa, which is black, shining and hairy : the penultimate and 

 ante-penultimate segments are whitish beneath ; the last segment is reddish, pointed, 

 and furnished with a number of minute hooks, which are invariably firmly affixed to 

 the web ; the hairs are soft, delicately slender, and nearly white ; the dorsal surface, 

 exactly where the dorsal brushes were situated in the larva, is covered with a scabro- 

 sity which has much the appearance of clusters of minute eggs ; the pupa of the female 

 is considerably larger than that of the male, and differs in the absence of the usual 

 wing-cases. The male appears in July, August and September : he is constantly on 

 the wing, flying all day, whether the weather be bright or cloudy ; his sole object ap- 

 pears to be to discover the female, who, in direct contrast to the volatile propensities 

 of the male, never leaves the web in which she became a pupa, but, crawling on the 

 surface of this web, she receives the embraces of the male, and immediately afterwards 

 commences the duty of oviposition. — Edward Newman. 



Description of the Larva of Himera pennaria. — The eggs are laid on the bark of 

 Quercus Eobur (oak), Betula alba (birch), and Carpinus betulus (hornbeam),, and do 

 not hatch until spring, when the young larvae ascend the trunk and branches, and, scat- 

 tering themselves in all directions, feed on the leaves of these three trees : their pre- 

 sence may be detected by the small and nearly circular holes which appear in the 

 .leaves of the hornbeam almost directly they unfold. The larva? are full-fed in June, 

 and then rest in a straight stick-like position, with the head and anterior segments 



