^^ AND ^^^^ 



JOURNAL OF VARIATION. 



No. 1. Vol IV. January 15th, 1893. 



LIFE jii^'Toi^y OF TD^^yeyijYEP^ i^iIbiqijMe^, 



By Dr. W. S. RIDING. 



On April 4tli, wliilst beating some sallows, I took a female B. 

 rnhlginea in good condition. On my return home, I placed lier in a 

 large card-I)oard I)Ox, with muslin on the top, and kept her constantly 

 supplied with thin syrup. On the morning of April 18th, I found a 

 dozen eggs had been laid on the muslin during the night — singly, and 

 scattered about. Between that date and May 8th, she laid altogether 

 123 eggs — from 4 to IG a night — sometimes passing 24 or 36 hoiu's 

 without depositing any. ^ The eggs when first laid, wore pale primrose, 

 and became mottled reddish-brown in about three days, remainino- so 

 till they assumed the usual leaden hue, shortly before Ihe emergence of 

 the larva. Each egg forms about | of a sphere, and is flattened on the 

 sides of attachment and ribbed. The ribs vary in number from 28 to 

 36, the alternate ribs stopping short of the apex. The diameter of the 

 egg is -850 mm. The first larva emerged on April 27th, the last on 

 May lyth. Out of the 123 eggs, 79 hatched ; the rest were either 

 infertile, or the larvae died in the shell. They emerge at the side of 

 the apex, and do not eat the shell for their first meal ; they seemed to 



hatch in about 10 days. At this time, they have only twelve legs the 



two anterior pairs of al)dominal legs are just indicaie'd l)y slight prom- 

 inences, so that the larvae look like those of Cteometeks. They are 

 leaden in colour, and covered with very long hairs — a third the 

 length of the larva itself — pale yellow, and arranged in tufts. The 

 trapezoidal tubercles are black, with hairs sj)riiiging from each, and 

 well-developed oil the 2nd day ; there are also similar lateral tubercles. 

 The head is brown and shiny. On the 2nd segment there is a trans- 

 verse, oblong black plate. 'J'he young larvte began to feed at once on 

 apple leaves, refusing dandelion. They nibbled the former in irreo-ular 

 holes, eating from the underside of the leaf tlirough the parenchvma. 

 The first moult of one I especially watched, took place in 11 days 

 (May 8th). The two anterior pairs of abdominal legs were now dis- 

 tinctly developed, the front pair being smaller than the next. The 

 colour changed to dark grey with a brownish tinge, and the larva 

 appeared somewhat translucent. When not fully extended in motion 

 they appeared annulated from the approximation of the trapezoidals. 

 If distuvl)ed, tlu'v fell off ;ii)d rcdled themselves in a loose ring. Tlie\ 

 fed at night only. In nine days more, the larva (which I may call 

 No. 1) moulted for the second time. It then appeared darker, looking 



