ON THE PUPATION OF THE NYMPHALIDÆ

Extract

In Ent. Mo. Magazine for August, 1878, is a paper by Dr. J. A. Osborne, respecting a discovery made by him oi the made by which the larvæ of the Nymphalidæ attach the chrysalis to the button of silk, and which is “altogether at variance with the account given in Kirby and Spence and other works.” Dr. Osborne relates : “In watching the transformation of V. Urticæ, I found that the chrysalis was attached to the old skin of the caterpillar by a membrane sufficiently strong and permanent to support the insect during the critical last moments of pupation, and fully explaining why it does not fall down when the tail of the chrysalis is withdrawn from the old skin and thrust up to be attached to the silk.”