THE GENUS ACRONYCTA AND ITS ALLIES. 197 



but is fairly cylindrical, tapering a little at each end, the head 

 is set on squarely, and it does not protrude the jaws, nor does 

 it draw itself up into any humped attitudes, nor curl itself 

 round. There is a good deal of variety in the brilliancy and 

 darkness of colouring of different larvae. The general arrange- 

 ment and character of markings is as in the previous skin. 

 Assuming the black to be the ground colour, it is broken up 

 by narrow streaks, mainly in transverse lines of colour, which 

 is, in places, pale creamy ochreous, in others, brick red. These 

 form a nearly continuous band between the trapezoidals as a 

 paler subdorsal line, and also a nearly continuous subspiracular 

 line. The dorsal area, between and in front of the anterior 

 trapezoidals, forms a black dorsal band, broken up behind the 

 trapezoidals by the transverse lines, of which six may be 

 counted — they are much interrupted, and do not materially 

 interfere with the apparent continuity of the black dorsal band ; 

 the pale subdorsal band has an irregular margin owing to the 

 branching off of the pale streaks, it lies between the anterior 

 and posterior trapezoidals, and almost includes both of them. 

 Its colour is a brick red on the middle and front portion of 

 each segment, yellowish ochreous behind. 



The next section reaches from this down to, and including, 

 the spiracles ; it is black, but much broken up by the yellow 

 ochreous streaks or marblings, w^hich are most numerous on 

 the posterior part of each segment, less so in front and least 

 so in the neighbourhood of the supra-spiracular tubercle. 

 The lateral or subspiracular line is yellow, but at the centre 

 of each segment it is red ; here it includes the large sub- 

 spiracular tubercle, and, stretching up behind the spiracle, 

 includes the small post-spiracular tubercle. The spiracle itself 

 in front of this, is conspicuously white, in a darker patch 

 belonging to the zone above. This lateral area is identical 

 in form and in relative colour with the lateral line in niDiicis. 

 Immediately on moulting into this skin, the colours of this 

 band in vcnosa are much more brilliant, and not far from those 

 of ruinicis. This is notable, as it is the rule for colours to be 

 pale and less pronounced immediately after a moult. Indeed, 

 I have, in describing the 3-ounger stages of these larvae, erred, 

 in noting how, after each moult, or on hatching, the blackness 

 of the tubercles packed together makes the larva appear black, 

 although, as it grows, and they separate, the paler colour of 

 the skin asserts itself. Ininiediately on hatching or moulting, 

 however, the larvae really look pale, as the tubercles are then 



