Among other papers which may be considered as contributions to the present subject, I may mention the following:--In 1864 Capt. Hutton published a paper, “On the Reversion and Restoration of the Silkworm, Part II.” (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1864, p. 295), in which he describes the various stages of development of several species of _Bombycidæ_. In 1867 G. Semper published accounts of the early stages of several Sphinx-larvæ (“Beiträge zur Entwicklungsgeschichte einiger ostasiatischer Schmetterlinge,” Verhandl. k.k. Zoolog.-botan. Gesell. in Wien, vol. xvii.). The question as to the number of claspers in young _Noctuæ_ larvæ has been raised in notes by Dr. F. Buchanan White (“Ent. Mo. Mag.,” vol. v. p. 204) and B. Lockyer (“Entomologist,” 1871, p. 433). A valuable paper, “On the Embryonic Larvæ of Butterflies,” was published in 1871 by S. H. Scudder (“Ent. Mo. Mag.,” vol. viii. p. 122). For remarks on the development of the larva of _Papilio Merope_, see J. P. Mansel Weale in Trans. Ent. Soc., 1874, p. 131, and Pl. I.; also this author on the young stages of the larva of _Gynanisa Isis_, Trans. Ent. Soc., 1878, p. 184. For an account of the development of the larvæ of certain North American species of _Satyrus_, see W. H. Edwards in the “Canadian Entom.,” vol. xii. p. 21. Mr. P. H. Gosse’s recent description of the newly hatched caterpillar of _Papilio Homerus_ (Proc. Ent. Soc. 1879, p. lv), furnishes a good illustration of the value of studying the ontogeny. The natural affinities of the _Papilionidæ_ were at one time much disputed, some systematists placing this family at the head of the Lepidoptera, and others regarding them as being more closely allied to the moths. Mr. Gosse’s observation tends to confirm the latter view, now generally received by Lepidopterists, since he states that the larva in question “suggests one of the great _Saturniadæ_, such as _Samia Cecropia_.” Mr. Scudder, in the paper above referred to, adopts an analogous argument to show the close relationship between the _Papilionidæ_ and _Hesperidæ_. R.M.] [68] [Mr. A. G. Butler has recently furnished a good illustration of the danger of classifying Lepidoptera according to the affinities of the perfect insects only, in his paper, “On the Natural Affinities of the Lepidoptera hitherto referred to the Genus _Acronycta_ of authors,” Trans. Ent. Soc. 1879, p. 313. If the author’s views are ultimately accepted, the species at present grouped under this genus will be distributed among the _Arctiidæ_, _Liparidæ_, _Notodontidæ_, and _Noctuæ_. Mr. Butler’s determination of the affinities of the species supposed to belong to the genus mentioned, is based chiefly upon a comparative examination of the larvæ, and this is far more likely to show the true blood-relationship of the species than a comparison of the perfect insects only. A study of the comparative ontogeny can alone give a final answer to this question. R.M.]