NOTES ON THE LIFE-HABITS OF EUVANESSA ANTIOPA. 275 



and stems of low plants, and under oak-leaves. It is rather curious 

 to note that only once have I found a pupa on the foodplant, Scabiosa 

 succisa. In 189.S, on February 27th, the young larva? of a single brood 

 of Melitaea aurinia were seen sunning themselves; by March 12th, the 

 larva? were well on the move, and were breaking up their webs ; on 

 April 23rd, the larva? were about half-fed; by May 14th, these were 

 fullfed, and on June 6th, the first M. a mini a was out of pupa. 



Notes on the life-habits of Euvanessa antiopa. 



By CECIL FLOERSHEIM, B.A., F.E.S. 



On May 6th, 1906, I received from Schwerin-in-Mecklenburg, 

 Germany, twenty dozen ova of Euvanessa antiopa which my corres- 

 pondent informed me had been laid on April 22nd. They were in 

 two batches, one containing ninety ova, and the other a hundred-and- 

 fifty, which completely encircled a birch twig at intervals of about 

 two inches. They were brown in colour, turning afterwards to a 

 leaden grey hue as the young larva' developed inside them, and 

 presented a striking resemblance to colonies of such aphides as I have 

 observed on the birch and willow, the sculpturing on the egg-shells 

 heightening the likeness by producing the effect of filamentous grey 

 proce- 



I cut the twig on which the ova were laid into two portions, and 

 tied the smaller batch to a young birch in my butterfly-house, which 

 was fully exposed to the sunshine, whilst I attached the larger one to 

 a willow opposite which was rather more shaded. On May 13th, the 

 ova on the birch which I will in future refer to as Batch A, began to 

 hatch. The emergence of the young larva? began at about 7 a.m., and 

 lasted until 1 p.m., when all except one or two that died without 

 breaking the ovum, had come out. 



The ovum was not eaten, and I noticed that immediately after 

 emergence, the larva', without exception, crawled in an upward 

 direction— a habit acquired I suppose to ensure that the little 

 caterpillars should meet and cluster upon the terminal shoot or 

 leaf of the twig. 



The larvsB were gregarious from the first, and by twelve o'clock, 

 such of them as were already gathered together had eaten the upper 

 part of the leaf upon which they had collected. 



Later on in their lives the Larvse, whilst still small enough to be all 

 crowded upon one leaf, enveloped it simult.'iueously from abovi 

 beneath so that nothing could be seen, but a black mass like a 

 miniature swarm of bees. 



The nextdaythe batch on willow, which I will call Batch l'>, I" 

 to emerge. Their hatching commenced at about 9 a.m., and lasted 

 until 1 p.m. This difference in time from Batch A is. I suppose, 

 accounted for both by the sun's cays reaching the willow later than 

 the birch, and by the greater numbers of B. 



By May 17th, both batches had constructed small carpets of silk 

 on the stems of the twigs upon which they were feeding with threads 

 connecting the leaves, to facilitate their movements. These carpets 

 increased in size with the larva' until they became large webs, 

 completely enclosing all the twig hut the Leaves. The caterpillars 

 were still uniformly gregarious; a ha hit which I noticed per 



