i6 
the rapid efforts it makes to hide itself. Humuli larvae, though awkward 
and clumsy in their movements, and without the great activity displayed 
by those of hectus , are equally quick to conceal themselves, and easily 
penetrate tolerably stiff soil. The larvae of all the species, whether 
they live one year or two, feed up in the spring, and when mature they 
approach the surface, and form a loose cocoon in which the long yellow- 
brown pupa can move about with great ease, wriggling and twisting 
itself up and down by means of projecting knobs or teeth on the rings 
of the abdomen. It is curious to see the pupa of lupulinus so move 
itself, for the cocoon is a long silken tube in which the pupa works 
itself in either direction and with considerable celerity. When about 
to emerge they press through the cocoon, and through the surface of 
the earth. I have seen the empty pupa cases of lupulinus sticking in 
considerable numbers from the surface of a track that had been trodden 
quite hard. Hectus is said to pupate under leaves, or amongst moss. 
I never found the pupa. 
We now reach the perfect insects, and it is to these the greatest 
interest attaches. Perhaps the most unusual thing in connection with 
them, is that not one of them has ever been called by any other name 
except that in ordinary use. 1 The most the “resurrection men ” have 
been able to do for them is to make hectus into hecta , and lupulinus 
into lupulina. What pleasure, therefore, to speak of insects by names 
that everyone knows ! No doubt, the very distinct characters of each 
have contributed to this, for the merest tyro can never make a mistake 
about any of the species, or take a “ Swift ” for anything else. It is, 
therefore, quite unnecessary that I should attempt to differentiate the 
species or describe their markings, though I shall have something to say 
about some of the markings further on. The marked peculiarities of 
the perfect insects are the long slender abdomina, the long pointed 
wings not overlapping at the base, and the extremely short antennae. 
But the first thing to attract notice in this group is the vibratory, pen¬ 
dulum-like flight of the male humuli , which may be seen in the early 
twilight of a summer evening, swinging leisurely backwards and forwards, 
as if it had nothing else to do. It seems always to have been accepted 
that this oscillating flight had something to do with the opposite sex, 
and a theory was long held that there was a female concealed in the 
herbage below, and that his motions were made in the desire to attract 
her notice, much, I suppose, as the males of certain birds and other 
animals strut and posture to gain the favours of their lady love. Many 
a fruitless search have I made to discover the hidden female. The 
slight changes of position he sometimes makes, were assumed to be the 
result of her motions below T , and I have over and over again tried to 
follow these changes, thinking I should thus be guided to her. The 
male is generally so intent upon what he is doing, that you may stand 
close to him. But my search was always in vain, the solution escaped 
me for many years, and even when Dr. Chapman solved the problem, 
and recorded as long ago as 1876 ( E.M.M ., vol. xiii., p. 63) the 
meaning of this exposed hovering, I, unfortunately, overlooked the 
record. Accident at length revealed the secret. I was passing through 
an uncultivated field where humuli was unusually abundant. Stopping 
1 Sylvinus was called hamma by Hiibner and Freyer, lupulina by Hiibner, and 
flina by Esper. Hecta was called jodutta by Esp., nemorosa by Esper, flina by 
Geyer.— J. W. Tutt. 
