116 THE entomologist's recokd. 



mortality among the pupfc, arising, if not primarily, at least 

 secondarily, from a want of knowledge as to proper treatment due to 

 doubt as to which of the parental habits would be followed. 



The chief distinguishing feature of the adult larvae of the 

 different races consists in the colour of the hairs, especially that of 

 the urticating hairs which form the dorsal fur. It is the colour of 

 these hairs that gives the larva its general tint. The colour of the 

 head is another point of difference, and also, to a more limited 

 extent, the shape and size of the clypeal marking, but these features 

 only serve to differentiate the southern from the northern races, or, 

 rather, the British from the continental forms ; as first stated, the 

 rule is very likely to hold good, but I have not had sufficient material 

 through my hands to say if this be always so. In the British races the 

 head is of a deep indigo-blue, occasionally tinged with orange on the 

 cheeks ; in the continental forms the head is usually orange-red, the 

 clypeal marks being whitish, the latter usually faint, if not absent in 

 larvte of British race. Adult continental larvte are, I think, more 

 densely haired than the British. In the early instars, however, there 

 is a vast difference between them, the continental larvte assuming the 

 adult' coat in the 2nd or 3rd stadia, while those of British parentage 

 do not attain to a full development of hairs until they are much larger, 

 at least one moult, and probably two moults, later. I found larvfe of 

 vars. vieridionalh and riburiii indistinguishable before the growth of the 

 urticating fur, the divergence of coloration becoming gradually more 

 apparent until the adult colours were attained about 4th and 5th stadia. 



The British larv* vary considerably, while the French forms are 

 much more constant, the variation in their case being chiefly with 

 regard to the development of the blue shading on the lateral area, 

 while with British larvt^e the colour of the dorsal fur varies between 

 dull white and pale brown, and there is much difference as to the stage 

 to which the chain of white medio-dorsal tufts persists. The blue 

 shading on the lateral area of the British larvae is usually stronger 

 than with the French, and it sometimes developed into interrupted 

 lateral bands. The larva of L, var. ribnrni is, in my experience, more 

 constant than that of L. var. meridionals. Eoughly speaking, the 

 chief points in adult larvffi are as follows : — 



L. quercns (English) : Dorsal {urticatin(j) fur, dull white to pale dusky brown. 

 Head, dull indigo. 



L. var. meridionalis (Cannes) : Dorsal fur, pure white. Head, orange-red. 



L. var. callmiae (Scotland) : Dorsal fur, dull brown. Head, dull indigo. 



L. var. viburni (Cannes) : Dorsal fur, red-brown. Head, orange-red. 



L. var. sicula : Dorsal fur, red-brown. Head, orange-red. 



I speak with some hesitation as to the imagines, as my series are 

 not very long. The differences are most apparent in the males. L. 

 var. sicula differs more markedly from any of the others than they do 

 among themselves, and, so far as my experience goes, is very constant. 

 The ground colour of the males is russet-brown, the band on the 

 hindwings is orange-yellow, and extends to the margin, while that on 

 the forewings is narrow, the former feature being characteristic of 

 the females as well. L. var. viburni and L. var. ineridiunalis I am 

 unable to distinguish. The males have a ground colour of a soft, but 

 rich deep red-brown, and the yellow band on the forewings is much 

 straighter than is usual with the British races. Some variation 

 exists in regard to the width of the band, but I have never seen a 



