132 The Irish Naturalist, July, 



on the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eleventh segments 

 there is a raised ridge bearing four large black tubercles on 

 the upper side set transversely, and at their base there are 

 red markings of irregular shape. The spiracles are white 

 surrounded by a black ring, outside which there is a 

 yellowish patch. They are feeding on hawthorn, and when 

 stretched rigid they bear a close resemblance to a bit of 

 dried twig. 



On March 17th a neighbour brought me a twig of an 

 apple tree round which was a ring of what, to the naked 

 eye, looked like some furry substance. On examination 

 this proved to be the eggs of Anisopteryx aescularia. I 

 put the twig in a small vase of water in my desk and awaited 

 developments. On April 14th the larvae began to emerge, 

 at which time the bud on the twig had burst into leaf. 

 The little larvae were i|- mm. in length and of a light 

 yellow colour. On April i6th they had developed a greenish 

 patch behind the head and this green colour spread all over 

 the larva. Now, May 13, they are 20 mm. in length, of a 

 much slighter build than the larvae of P. pilosaria and 

 without the protuberances so remarkable on them. 



The ground colour is light green, white longitudinal dorsal 

 lines and a lateral white line below the spiracles ; the 

 spiracles are white on a black ring, and behind each spiracle 

 there is a black patch ; from the base of the ist to the 

 base of the 3rd segment there is a black dorsal patch which 

 is strongest at the front of the 2nd segment. On segments 

 4-8 inclusive there is a small black dorsal patch at the 

 middle of the front of each segment. There are two rows 

 of minute black spots on each segment ; these are not distinct 

 till the last segment, on which they are larger and more 

 numerous and can be seen to bear white bristles. These 

 larvae were fed on apple at first, then on crab -apple and 

 now are feeding on both crab -apple and hawthorn. While 

 the larvae of P. pilosaria seem to rely for concealment on 

 their resemblance to a twig, these rely upon their colour, 

 which is exactly that of the fresh leaves, and I found that 

 they took some looking for even in the limited space where 

 they were confined, and where, of course, I knew they must 

 be. 



