LEPIDOPTERA IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 39 



wings, then curving her abdomen, deposits one or two ova on the under- 

 surt'ace of a leaf ; when more than one, placing them side by side, but 

 not touching. They apparently oviposit on any small plant in the 

 neighbourhood of the foodplant, choosing those growing in well- 

 sheltered nooks among bushes, thus placing the ova in spots Avhere 

 violets flourish luxuriantly. The first female I observed doing this, 

 laid a single egg on a straggling plant, I think a species of cbickweed, 

 but, not being in flower, I was unable to identify it ; and the other 

 deposited two on a tiny leaf on a small plant of ivy. The young larva& 

 hatched out 24 days later, one only eating its eggshell. They soon 

 began to nibble at the violet leaf I gave them, and two or three days 

 after hatching out, commenced eating the leaf at the edge. They are 

 not very active, and, when disturbed, immediately tumble ofT the leaf 

 and curl themselves into a ring, but soon unroll and crawl in a 

 leisurely manner. At the beginning of August, two of them stopped 

 feeding to hybernate, and shrivelled up to Ye^n. long ; the remaining 

 larva continued to feed well, and I was hoping to succeed in rearing 

 the butterfly the same year, but a fortnight later, when it was about 

 half-an-inch long, this also ceased to eat, and shrivelled up to a stubby^ 

 black larva, half that length. B. sclenc. — One male I captured is a 

 rather nice specimen, as the black spots parallel with the outer margin 

 are larger than usual. It was curious that I only saw one female, 

 although I was particularly looking out for specimens of that sex, yet 

 I could have obtained plenty of males. Paraiye ef/eria was, I am glad 

 to say, common, especially during the latter end of the summer. It 

 has, until last season, been getting more and more scarce every year 

 since 1904. 1'. xwiiaera, F^pincp/idc ianira, K. tit/toniis. Enodia Injper- 

 antJtiis was much less abundant across the river at Tintern and 

 Llandogo. It is not so plentiful on this side. Coenonytnplia ]ianipJiiltis. 

 — In August I took a freshly emerged ab. ocellata : the ocelli on the 

 underside of the hindwings, are very conspicuous. 



Heterocera. — AmorpJta popiili, Scsia stellatartnii, Antlnocera 

 tilipendiilcie. A. trifalii. — Besides seeing a few imagines in the neighbour- 

 hood, J bred a 2 from a solitary larva found in one of my meadows 

 where I only saw A. filipendnlae on the wing. A. hmicerae. — I acci- 

 dentalh- netted one at dusk whilst attempting to capture a Noctuid 

 flying low over heath ; the only specimen we have met with in the 

 Wye Valley district. Hepialiis li(pidi)ii(s, H. aylriniis. H. Iiiinntli was 

 most abundant, and the larvse and pupte dug up in quantities while 

 putting a much-neglected garden into order. Lithosia biridcola. — I 

 found two of the larvfG " grazing" in the company of a "flock" of 

 i\udaria nmndana larvfe on the minute lichens on a stonewall. Setina 

 mewntclla. Kuchdia jacobaeae swarmed, commencing to appear in mid- 

 April (I did not note the exact date, but it was during the " teens " of 

 the month) and were observed until July 24th ; nearly everj- ragwort 

 plant was tenanted by the larva), and even an edging of Cineraria in 

 my garden was attacked. During the winter months I found several 

 pupte under the top layer of stones on the " dry walls " round the 

 fields, from which I bred this species. Xemeopkila planta<iini>i. — My 

 father netted several and saw others flying in the sunshine in 

 Llandogo, but I did not come across a single specimen, although col- 

 lecting in what appeared to be suitable localities on this side of the 

 river, riiratjwatohia fuli(jinosa. — One 3 was attracted in the house by 



