182 [January, 



Natural History of Mamestra furva. — For the long-desired opportunity of 

 studying the larva of this species, I am greatly obliged to Mr. Johu Dunsmore, of 

 Paisley, whose unwearied kindness throughout the winter of 1876-77, in repeatedly 

 hunting up specimens for me, in spite of adverse weather, has my warmest thanks ; 

 and I must not omit my obligations to Mr. Andrew Wilson, of Edinburgh, who, in 

 1869, sent me eggs, though at that time, through want of experience, I failed in re- 

 taining the larva;. The eggs were sent to me towards the end of summer, and the 

 larvae hatched in September ; they were very active at once, and seemed anxious to 

 hide under the earth, and presently established themselves at the base of a tuft of 

 grass, and spun together a little earth, frass, and some of the grass-roots, for pro- 

 tection ; Mr. Dunsmore found the larvse (commencing in the first week of November, 

 when they were but three-sixteenths of an inch long) amongst the roots of Poa tri- 

 vialis and P. nemoralis, growing from under large stones, which capped a turf wall 

 in a hilly district ; after I received them, finding it necessary to supply them from 

 time to time with growing food, for they woke up occasionally from hibernation and 

 ate away the heart of the grass shoots close to the root, I tried them with Poa 

 annua, and, to my great convenience, they took to it quite contentedly ; during the 

 winter their growth was trifling, but as Mr. Dunsmore continued to send me fresh 

 examples at intervals of time, which were always smaller than those I had been 

 keeping previously, I drew the conclusion that in the colder climate of their northern 

 habitat their hibernation was more complete, and that there dui'ing winter they 

 probably did not quit the smooth, silk-lined, oval nests or chambers, which they con- 

 structed — each for itself — by spinning together the grass roots ; after the middle of 

 May I saw these nests were made less carefully, being no more than dome-covered 

 hollows, out of which they came every night, and fed, generally as before, close to 

 the grass roots, but sometimes on the panicles of seeds ; becoming fvdl-fed during 

 the first half of June, they then turned to pupse, without making any cocoon what- 

 ever, but loose in the peaty soil under the grass, and between July 1st and 14th, I 

 bred six imagos, all males. 



The egg of furva is small, dome-shaped, ribbed and reticulated, of a dirty 

 whitish colour at first, changing afterwards to light drab, and again to dai'k grey, a 

 day or two before hatching ; the newly-hatched larva is dirty whitish with dark 

 brown head, plates and minute dots ; the hairs in the dots visible only with a lens ; 

 in six weeks or two months time, it is about three-sixteenths of an inch long, of a 

 light pinkish-brown colour, the head, plates, and warts of the same colour, but more 

 shining than the rest of the skin ; and by the end of December, examples vary in 

 length according to their growth, from four-sixteenths to five-sixteenths of an inch, 

 and again at the end of March, from three-eighths to four-eighths; in April it 

 advances still slowly, and moulting, becomes rather paler, and grows by the middle 

 of ^lay to five-eighths of an inch in length, and, after further moulting, towards the 

 end of the month, its colouring is still paler ; it is now dirty whitish, or pale drab, 

 or flesh colour, the head, plates, and spots continuing brownish-red or pinkish-brown 

 as before ; henceforward its growth is more rapid, and after another moult it attains 

 its full growth, from the beginning to the middle of June. 



The healthy full-grown larva measures one and a quarter of an inch in length, 

 and is moderately stout in proportion, nearly uniform in size, except that the first and 

 last segments a little smaller, the head full and roiinded, the lobes on the crown well- 



