NOTES OX THE LIFE-HISTORY OF CALLIMORPHA HERA. 69 



larvic having died during the period last mentioned, and several of 

 the survivors presenting an unhealthy appearance, I deemed it 

 advisable to make some changes ; I accordingly removed the larvne 

 to a -warmer room and fed them upon dandelion leaves instead of 

 lettuce leaves. The changes proved highly beneficial and the death 

 rate was immediately reduced. Under the new conditions, the larvfs, 

 now unfortunately reduced to 80 in number, commenced to grow 

 rapidly, and by January 26th, 1902, the majority of them measured 

 five-twelfths of an inch and four of the others fully half an inch in 

 length, one larva having remained very small in size. The appear- 

 ance at this stage, just prior to the fourth moult, was as follows : — Form 

 cylindrical, ground colour brownish-black, dorsal band orange-yellow ; 

 running parallel with the dorsal band, and upon each side of it, were 

 two rings on each segment situated one behind the other, each ring 

 being formed by a thin white line. These rings were in close proximity 

 to each other, in such a way as to form a pair, the one in front being 

 smaller than the one behind, and, from the rings, hairs protruded. On 

 the sides were similar single rings and two white spots or marks on 

 each segment. By February 9th the larvae had completed their fourth 

 moult, diamond-shaped yellowish tufts or warts appearing in the 

 spaces formed by the rings described above. Two or three of the 

 larvfB had by this time grown to three-quarters of an inch and one to 

 nearly one inch in length. 



On February 16th I thought it desirable to give the larvae more 

 space, and accordingly removed them to larger glass bottles, having 

 gauze instead of muslin coverings. The removal was a delicate task 

 as it was difficult to tell whether some of the larv* were merely resting 

 or were fixed up for a further moult. The only way to test this was 

 to try the effect of a camel hair brush upon them ; if upon being 

 touched they immediately rolled into a ring and fell to the bottom of 

 the bottle there was, of course, no risk attached to their removal, but if, 

 on the other hand, they obstinately refused to move, great caution 

 becaiMe necessary and the larvfe had to be carefully watched to see if 

 they moved about later of their own accord. 



The later moults appeared to take a comparatively long time, riz., 

 from eight to ten days. I fortunately had an opportunity of watching 

 one of the larvae complete what I judged to be its fifth moult, which 

 took place on February 16th. The operation of shedding the old skin, 

 which took fully five minutes, appeared to be an extremely troublesome 

 one to the larva. After having successfully got rid of its old skin it 

 remained for eighteen minutes with its anal segments elevated ; it 

 then commenced to move about but very soon affixed itself to the gauze 

 at the top of the bottle, where it remained stationary for a considerable 

 time. The following is a description of this larva taken shortly after the 

 moult : — Generally it presented a very handsome appearance, the 

 ground colour being velvety-black, or nearly black, the head and legs 

 shining black, the belly and claspers mouse colour ; the dorsal band 

 became brilliant orange and the tufts or roots, which, in the previous 

 moult, had filled the spaces formed by the rings, bright yellow. The 

 single tufts or warts on the sides appeared to be three in number and 

 to slant backwards from a point between the two tufts on the dorsal 

 line. On the sides, also, were the two white spots already mentioned ; 

 the spiracles were black. A few hours after the completion of this 



