18 



the moth usually crawls to the underside of a leaf and settles down 

 with the wings covering the body in a flat roof-like manner. 



Such is the life cycle of this little moth when all goes well with 

 it, but like every living being, it has its enemies and its misfortunes. 

 The young larva; are sometimes killed by Hemiptera which, gaining 

 access to their dwellings, pierce their delicate skins and suck their 

 juices. The larva of a hymenopterous parasite, which Mr. Morley 

 has kindly identified as Piwpla maculata, Fab., destroys many. It 

 lives in the bodies of the larvse and pup«, making its escape when 

 perfect by biting off the top of the pupa shell. Sometimes the larva 

 fails in the attempt to change its skin and death ensues. It appears 

 also that very wet weather is often fatal to larvae. 



In captivity the female will pair the same day that she emerges 

 from the pupa, and will commence laying ova a few hours after 

 pairing. The first ova observed in 1914 were laid on June 5th at 

 the junction of the side and the glass top of the box in which the 

 moths were confined. They were placed in pairs, one partly over- 

 lapping the other, and both were covered with gum and hidden 

 beneath a mass of scales from the extremity of the moth's body. 

 This mass of gum and scales terminated in a point above the ova 

 and I witnessed the moth raising and depressing her abdomen 

 repeatedly and drawing out the gum to a point. These cones, con- 

 sisting of two ova, gum and scales, were constructed by many of 

 the females, and it therefore seems probable that this method of 

 oviposition is the one usually adopted. 



Some moths after forming a few cones commenced to lay eggs in 

 small groups in the manner usually followed by other species of the 

 Tortricina. A few females laid all their eggs in groups. In both 

 cases the ova were concealed by scales and debris. In one cage 

 sprays of oak leaves with twigs of the first and second year were 

 placed, and also one much older piece of branch with rough bark, 

 the last was the only portion to receive ova though many were 

 deposited on the muslin sleeve as is usual when moths are confined 

 in similar cages. 



Ovum pale yellow when first laid, afterwards becoming orange-brown, more 

 or less circular in outline, very much flattened above and below. Wben first 

 laid more like a circular tablet than a tcale. It measures about 0-74mm. in 

 diameter. The surface sculpture consists of impressions like those made on 

 hammered copper, but in most of the ova examined these marks were entirely 

 obliterated by the impressions caused by the adhering scales from the moth. 

 The oval stage lasts from nine to ten months. 



It may be useful to give a few details of the larva in its different 

 stages. It is an ordinary caterpillar with three pairs of true legs, 

 four pairs of abdominal prolegs, and a pair of posterior prolegs or 

 claspers. In its first three stages it is rather slender, becoming 

 stout in the two remaining stages. The measurements of the width 

 of the head are given (in millimetres), as by the aid of these the 

 stages of the larva can be ascertained. The heads of any stage 

 vary slightly in width, but within certain limits, so that the largest 



