148 THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
and directed envelope. — J oseph Wkagg, 
7, Sprint/ Gardens, Doncaster ; Jan. 24. 
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE 
TINEINA. 
DEPBESSABIA CHjEROPHYLLI. 
The egg is no doubt laid in the spring 
by the liybernated female. The larva 
feeds in the umbels of Charuphyllum 
bulbosum and temulum ; at Glogau it is 
most frequent on the former plant, but in 
England, where Bulbosum does not occur, 
the larva seems to be perfectly contented 
with C. temulum. The larva spins be- 
tween the flower-stems of the umbel a 
transparent silken tube, in which it re- 
sides ; this tube is placed in a nearly 
horizontal position, and being open a t 
each end affords ready egress to the 
active larva, which can move as rapidly 
backwards as forwards. The larva may 
be found in the mouth of July, but are 
generally full fed before the end of the 
month. Several larvae frequently occur 
on a single plant, but rarely are two 
found in the same umbel ; it is therefore 
very different in this respect from the 
larvae of D. nervosa and D. Heracliana. 
Owing to the readiness with which these 
larvae take alarm — for almost the slightest 
agitation of the plant is sufficient to make 
them hurry to the ground — we very fre- 
quently meet with umbels in which we 
find the empty silken tube, but no larva; 
no doubt the panic-struck larvae, on dis- 
covering the groundless nature of their 
alarm, crawl up the stem of the plant 
and occupy at random the first umbel 
which they find convenient, which is in 
its turn to be as unceremoniously de- 
serted when some fresh cause of alarm 
arises. When the larva is full fed it 
descends to the surface of the earth, 
where it constructs a slight cocoon, and 
then assumes the pupa state. About the 
middle of August the perfect insect ap- 
pears; it may be met with occasionally 
during the two following months, and 
again after hybernation in the spring. 
H. T. Stainton. 
ON THE FUNCTIONS OF 
ANTENNi. 
Every entomologist must be familiar 
with the fact that when a moth singes 
its antennas in the flame it is more or 
less incapable of directing its flight, and 
usually spins in circles on the surface 
with which it may come in contact, with 
its head downwards. For a long while 
I supposed that this was a mere expres- 
sion of pain, until I experimented in 
various ways with this instrument for the 
purpose of ascertaining its function. 
My first experiments consisted in the 
excision of the antennae, immediately 
above the bulbs, in the male Saturnta 
Cecropia, as soon as it had escaped from 
the cocoon, and before expansion of the 
wings had begun. The circulating fluids 
exuded, and soon formed over the cut 
surface a clot, by which it was per- 
manently closed. There was no escape 
of air from the severed tracheal trunk, 
nor any indications of respiratory effort 
on the part of the imago, neither was 
the globule of fluid taken up through 
the tracheal trunk. The mutilation gives 
rise to very little expression of pain, 
after the first shock of the operation, and 
the imago fixes itself as usual to expand 
