PHASGOXURA VIRIDISSIMA. 179 



side than on the other ; about 5*5 mm. long, by about 

 1*5 mm. broad. 



METAMORPHOSIS.- -In 1913 A. B. Luvoni \vas fortu- 

 nate enough to be able to observe the development of 

 a female nymph. An interesting note by him on the 

 subject appeared in the pages of the ' Entomologist/ 

 the substance of which is here given. The nymph was 

 captured on 22 June, and, judging by what followed, 

 appeared to be in the second or third stage, The 

 ovipositor was about 3 mm. long, and the wings were 

 scarcely noticeable. Various kinds of grass, dandelion, 

 knapweed, bindweed, and one or two kinds of tmtter- 

 cup were supplied as food. The next day it was 

 found to have fed freely on Ranunculus repens, feeding, 

 time being apparently night or early morning. This 

 plant be it noted was growing in profusion where the 

 nymph, was captured. On 25 June an ecdysis took 

 place, after which the ovipositor and wings measured 

 () mm. and 3 mm. respectively. The next occurred on 

 10 July, when the ovipositor became 15 mm. and the 

 wings 9 mm., while the total length was 34 mm. 



After the second ecdvsis the antenna?, which had been 



j 



damaged and were unequal in length, became normal. 

 The final ecdysis took place on 31 July about 6.30 a.m., 

 and the imago, after eating the empty skin, clung for 

 some time to the grass-stems, apparently to allow of 

 the proper development of the wings. For three days 

 before an ecdysis the nymph ceased to feed and became 

 sluggish and whitish in colour, and it was two days 

 after the change before proper coloration was acquired. 

 The cast skin was always eaten, the time occupied in 

 the feast being: about one and a half hours, and the 



O ' 



hind legs being eaten last. This nymph particularly 

 appreciated being placed in the sun. 



VARIATION.- -P. viridissima is not variable to any 

 extent. There is, ho\vever, some difference in size, 

 and in the amount of brown colour which usurps the 

 green. On one occasion Porritt examined some thirty 

 specimens and found that three or four of them (in- 



