204 THE entomologist's record. 



they are said to favour most low bushes. The time for hibernation 

 having ari-ived, each larva spins a little pad of silk close to a bud, and 

 there fixes itself by its claspers, remaining in an upright or slightly 

 bent position all the winter. I have asked Mr. Newman, who is 

 rearing a large number, if, during the mild spells of weather which 

 have characterised this winter, his larvae have been tempted to move 

 Great, and he replies, " No ! the larvae have remained still, they do not 

 seem to leave their pads close to the buds." Instead of their green 

 and brown coloration, they now assume a sober brown- black ; owing 

 partly to general darkening, and partly to a shrinking of the segments. 

 This dull colour they retain vintil the first change of skin, after feeding 

 in the spring. The wonderful adaptation of these larvae to the changes 

 of their surroundings has been often noted, and there is a particularly 

 readable note on the subject by the Rev. G. M. A. Hewett, in the 

 Ent. Hec, vol. iv., p. 215. I have found it a very successful plan, 

 when rearing these larvfe, to turn them out on the foodplant in autumn, 

 of course in my garden, or where they may be easily found again, 

 and to leave them to their own devices until they are well-grown, in 

 the spring, though obviously they are thus subject to the possible 

 attacks of ichneumons. I did not know why I was so much more 

 successful when I followed this plan, until I found that when young, 

 they have been observed to be particularly fond of the buds as food 

 (Mr. E. A. Bowles, h/nt. life, vol. viii., p. 89, and "Practical Hints," 

 <*/'. rit., vol. xiv., p. 55). Mr. Newman tells me that he is always careful 

 that his young larva? shall have a plentiful supply of buds in their bags 

 during the hibernation period. The knowledge of this fact may be of 

 value to any who have found a difficulty in rearing the insect from the egg. 



The fullfed larva spins a few leaves of the foodplant together, 

 forming a loose cocoon, in which to pupate. I have only one note as 

 to the duration of the pupal stage. In 1887, a larva pupated on 

 June 6th, and the moth emerged on July 5th, I should think this 

 would be about the usual period. The moth, in nature, continvies on 

 the wing over a somewhat extended period. Mr. C. Fenn gives from 

 the middle of June to the end of August {Knt. Bee, vol. ix., p. 22). 

 My own notes range from July 9th to August 3rd. I suppose a good 

 deal depends upon the season. 



(t. papilUmaria comes freely to light. Mr. E. F. Studd of Oxton, 

 tells me that he takes the male commonly in his traps, but never a 

 female, and it is stated that its visits to light take place very late at 

 night [Knt. liec, vol. vii., 331). It also comes well to sugar, Mr. 

 Baden-Smith says that he took a male and female in this way {Ent. 

 Hec, vol. v., p. 17), and my own experience is that this method of 

 capture is very successful in places where the species is tolerably 

 common, the specimens thus taken being, as a rule, in finer condition 

 than those taken by net or trap. I have not noticed at which hour 

 (the flight is most general, taking it perhaps for granted that the species 

 began to move at dusk. It was, however, definitely stated at the meeting 

 of the City of Loudon Entomological Society on March 17th, 1896, that 

 its true time of flight, is from 9 p.m. until very late. This I take to 

 mean from dusk onwards. 



The insect has a wide range. Staudinger and Rebel in their 

 datalo;/ give " central and northern Europe (up to about 60°-62°N. lat.), 

 northern and central Italy, northern Asia Minor {e.g., about Amasia 



