150 
NYMPHALIDAE 
tion by a glass dome in the roof of my house in Essex in July, 
and remained without moving until the end of the following 
March ; therefore, over eight months were spent in complete 
torpidity. Other similar instances have been recorded. 
Out-houses, sheds, and all kinds of buildings are resorted to 
for hibernation, especially churches, where they frequently 
make their appearance in the winter months when these 
edifices are artificially heated. 
Egg Laying. Pairing takes place during April after hiberna¬ 
tion. In May the female invariably 
selects the terminal leaves of the Stinging 
Nettle (Urtica dioica) as the site for her 
eggs. Upon the upper surface of one 
of the leaves she settles with wings 
expanded and then, curving her ab¬ 
domen under the edge of the leaf, she 
starts depositing a large number of eggs 
in a heaped-up mass on the under side ; 
she remains in this attitude without 
moving during the process. When only 
a small batch is laid, it takes over half 
an hour, but when a full complement, 
numbering about i.ooo, is deposited, it 
takes some hours. At the finish the 
butterfly hangs helpless on the leaf with 
outspread wings, apparently exhausted. 
The eggs are then in a dense heap, piled 
the' IS Tortoiseshell U P many deep, the external layer num- 
one clay old (magnified), benng about 200. 
Egg. The egg is oblong in shape, 
fullest near the base, which is smooth and rounded ; there 
are nine white fluted glass-like prominent keels running down 
the side, the intervening spaces are ribbed transversely. The 
colour is a clear green, which is paler ochreous on the eighth 
day with a translucent green zone at the middle ; finally the 
dark head of the larva shows under the shell. The egg stage 
lasts about ten days in normal temperature. The eggs are 
laid throughout May. I have watched females in a wild state 
depositing on May 4th, May 14th and May 25th. 
Larva. As soon as hatched, the young larvae commence 
