OCR Text |
Show 1886.] MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE GENUS PARNASSIUS. 13 "Whilst the first pair were in copulation I made a sketch (as well as I was able) of the 'pouch' as it then appeared (fig. 1), a side view of the ' pouch' immediately after separation (fig. 2), a side view of the position of the female whilst laying her eggs (fig. 3), and a hack view of the same (fig. 4 ) \ The 'pouch,' as then seen through a magnifying glass, appeared to be about T 3^ of an inch long and not quite an eighth of an inch broad, with a very slight central depression the whole length, of a dark green colour, and with very minute transverse corrugations. This I found, during the time I was watching them, to be a membranous covering attached to the abdomen of the male, containing a dark green fluid. This membrane entirely covered the true pouch of the female, as I observed that the male appeared to be able to contract it, and did several times, so as to expose the ' pouch' of the female, which was then quite white; and it has since occurred to me, that this exposure of the ' pouch ' might be for the purpose of hardening it a little, as the 'pouches' of the females are quite soft during copulation, but soon harden after separation and exposure to the atmosphere, and this leads me to think that this membranous covering of the male is the mould in which the'pouch' is formed during copulation. One thing, however, is certain, that the ' pouch ' is developed entirely during copulation. " The third copulation took place on the 28th of June, and lasted from 10.23 A M . till 12.48 P.M. = 2 hours 25 minutes. The pouch was developed. These specimens were dropped into spirits of wine ' in cop.'; the membrane of the male then began to contract by the action of the spirit, but the insects did not separate. " The fourth copulation took place on the 28th of June, and lasted from 1.15 A.M. till 2.30 P M . = 1 hour 15 minutes; these specimens were then dropped into spirits. The ' pouch ' was developed ; and I may here mention as a proof that the 'pouch' has nothing whatever to do with oviposition, that the female of this pair laid an egg whilst 'in cop.' " The fifth copulation took place on the 4th of July, and after the insects had been in copulation 30 minutes they were put in spirit. The ' pouch' was apparently developed. " The sixth copulation took place on the same day ; after being in copulation ten minutes the pair were put in a cyanide bottle and killed. They separated after death, but no sign of a 'pouch' was visible. These specimens were afterwards put in spirits. "The seventh copulation took place on July 6, and after the insects had been in copulation about three hours, I separated them forcibly. The ' pouch' of the female was quite soft, and I pressed the keel gently with a pin to see if the impression would remain when the ' pouch' had hardened, and it has done so. I then examined the membrane of the male, and found that by squeezing the abdomen of the male, and holding up the membrane with a pin, a white opaque gelatinous substance issued from that part of the abdomen of the male where the point of the pouch of the female would be during copu- 1 These drawings are not now published. |