TWO NOTORIOUS INSECT PESTS. 681 



"size. At the same time its colour fades and becomes pale. Just before 

 pupation the colour of the larva is a pale-yellow, the dark-purple 

 markings being then very distinct and characteristic. 



7. Pupa. — Slender. Colour yellowish-brown, dark on back, pale 

 to white in front, with a few scattered bristles. On the top of the 

 head, between the eyes, are two small dark bristles. At the point of 

 the tail there is a minute hook, with two outwardly pointed branches. 

 Figs. III. (a), III. (b) represent, respectively, the back and front view 

 of the pupa. To determine the dimensions of the pupa, 51 normally- 

 developed specimens were measured, which showed that the length 

 varied from 0*52 to 043 of an inch and the mid-diameter from 0*09 

 to 0-13. 



B. Hyblcea puera — 



8. Moth. — The type is described in Hampson's Moths, Vol. II.-, 

 p. 371, and is represented in Fig. IV. Fig. IV (a) shows the upper side 

 and Fig. IV (b) the under side of the wings. The colouring and 

 markings, however, vary considerably from those of the type in different 

 specimens. From a number of moths collected by me in 1901, I selected 

 eleven which showed the greatest variations, and sent them to Mr. 

 De Niceville for opinion, pointing out that in minor details the colour- 

 ing of some specimens approached that of Hyblcea constellata. Mr. 

 De Niceville identified them all as Hybhva puera, remarking that " the 

 species is obviously a very variable one." The ground colour of the 

 thorax and forewing above is often ashy-grey and the forewing has 

 frequently more or less extensive greenish, or yellowish-white, diffused 

 patches on the upper side, which are triangular in shape when the 

 wings are closed. On the under side the costa and apex of the fore- 

 win g, the whole of the hind wing, as well as the abdomen below and 

 at the sides are sometimes suffused with crimson, wdiereas in the type, 

 the underside of the abdomen is pale-yellow shaded with brown. 



9. Egg. — The eggs are striate, yellowish or greenish in colour, 

 oblong, with long diameter - 05 of an inch. They are somewhat trans- 

 parent, and the dark head of the young larva can be distinctly seen 

 inside the egg, shortly before hatching. After hatching, the empty 

 egg-shells are colourless. 



10. They are laid singly on the back of the young leaves, generally 

 in an angle between two veins, or where the lateral veins join the 

 midrib. The youngest leaves are usually selected for egg-laying, so 



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