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The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

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maturity, when the sexes are ready to propagate<br />

their kind.<br />

<strong>The</strong> manner in which the males <strong>of</strong> certain<br />

moths congregate in extraordinary numbers<br />

round a single female, apparently indicates a<br />

great excess <strong>of</strong> males, though this fact may perhaps<br />

be accounted for by the earlier emergence<br />

<strong>of</strong> the males from their cocoons. Mr. Stainton<br />

informs me that from twelve to twenty males,<br />

may <strong>of</strong>ten be seen congregated round a female<br />

Elachista rufocinerea. It is well known that if a<br />

virgin Lasiocampa quercus or Saturnia carpini<br />

be exposed in a cage, vast numbers <strong>of</strong> males<br />

collect round her, and if confined in a room will<br />

even come down the chimney to her. Mr. Doubleday<br />

believes that he has seen from fifty to a<br />

hundred males <strong>of</strong> both these species attracted<br />

in the course <strong>of</strong> a single day by a female in confinement.<br />

In the Isle <strong>of</strong> Wight Mr. Trimen exposed<br />

a box in which a female <strong>of</strong> the Lasiocampa<br />

had been confined on the previous day, and

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