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Show 1887.] VALUE OF COLOUR AND MARKINGS IN INSECTS. 273 I also offered (Sept. 6) the same species of Lizard a number of larvse of the Sawfly (Croesus septentrionalis), and although the Lizards seized them eagerly at first, they soon rejected them with every sign of disgust, the jaws being rubbed against the floor of the cage to remove as far as possible every trace of the unpleasant taste. However, on the railway journey from Birmingham to Oxford (Sept. 6) I actually saw a hungry Lizard seize one of these larvse, and with much hesitation reluctantly swallow it. I was surprised at this behaviour, for earlier in the summer I had certainly seen these same larvse devoured with apparent avidity by nearly all the Lizards. On one occasion also I placed the conspicuous pupa of Abraxas grossulariata in the cage of L. muralis. I subsequently found that it had been bitten, and as all its contents were gone it seems certain that it had been at any rate partially eaten. I have also offered the imago of this species to the Lizards, but it has always been refused after tasting in some instances. Furthermore, immense numbers of pupse and imagos of Vanessa urtica were eaten by all the Lizards at various dates towards the end of August and beginning of September, while early in the summer humble-bees (Bombus lapidarius &c.) were sometimes eaten by Lacerta viridis, and the common hive-bee (worker) was sometimes eaten with considerable caution by most of the Lizards. Common wasps (queens and workers), on the other hand, were invariably undisturbed ; and this was also the case with Nomada marshamella. Cockroaches were always eaten with avidity by all the Lizards, as well as the common species of Muscidse, with their larvae and pupse. Coccinella septem-punctata was invariably refused without tasting. The Carabidse-Carabus hortensis and Omaseus melanarius-were eaten readily. The Isopod (Armadillo vulgaris) was also relished. Experiments with the Frogs (Hyla arborea, var. meridionalis) were less numerous and systematic; but they yielded some very interesting results:- May 7, 1886.-A queen wasp was put in the aquarium, and immediately a Frog sprang at it and drew it into its mouth, but instantly recognizing (apparently by the tactile sense) the danger, released the insect. It is possible that the Frog was stung, but the whole process, capture and release, was so rapid that it is very likely that the animal escaped. As soon as the wasp was free a second Frog behaved in precisely the same manner, and after this a third. After this I did not see the wasp again attacked, and it was left in the aquarium for twenty-four hours. May 9.-One imago of Pieris napi taken instantly. May 13.-One imago of A. carclamines ( $ ) taken instantly by one Frog after being refused by others. May 29.-One imago of A. cardamines ( $ ) eaten at once by one Frog after having been refused by others. One imago of Orgyia pudibunda (<$) eaten at once by one Frog after having been refused by others. june Q.-Two imagos of E. jacobaa were eaten at once, one directly after the other, by the same Frog, so that the taste could not |