210 THE ENToatOLOGIST's RECOllt), 



found the majority emerged about noon. I have never, or, rather, do not 

 now experience any difticulty in separating the type from the variety. 

 The following notes as to the number of eggs laid by L'. callunac may 

 be of interest: 121, 204, 226, 227, 122,''^total for five moths, 900 

 eggs, or an average of 180 eggs each. As to duration in the egg state, 

 eggs laid on June 17th hatched on July 13th and lith, and eggs laid 

 June 20th, hatched July loth and IGth. B. callunac frequently 

 remains two years in the cocoon. In the Kntomoluiji^i's Fwcunl, vol. v., 

 p. 198, is a note from Mr. Alfred F. Johnson, Erdington, on the 

 " copulation " of two male B. ipwrcus ; it may interest Mr. Johnson, 

 and others, to know that on June 17th last, whilst " assembling " 

 with the females of B. callunac, the males were so eager to copulate 

 that two male 7J. callunac copulated together on two difieront 

 occasions during the day, and it required the exercise of con- 

 siderable force to pull them asunder, and a male copulated with a 

 female whilst held between the fore-finger and thumb. The females 

 commence to " call " about noon, and continue to attract until 3 p.m. 

 The males always come up against the wind. The females do not 

 exercise any choice in the selection of their partners. — William 

 Hewett, 12, Howard Street, York. September Vlth, 1896. 



:f^OTES ON LIFE-HISTORIES, LARY^, &c. 



Description of the full=grown Larva of Amphidasys strataria 

 (prodromaria), witli some notes on its Protective Coloration. 



By J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 

 Early in May, Mr. Garland sent me larvae of A. strataria f jinxlnnii- 

 ariaj, with the intimation that there was not a description of it extant in 

 any of the generally used books. As these usually consist only of New- 

 man's British Moths and Stainton's Manual, both, of course, wofully 

 out of date, I was somewhat sceptical, and suggested that it was pro- 

 bable that more than one description of the larva might be found in 

 our magazines and more recent works. I only make these preliminary 

 remarks to excuse myself for doing again, what has possibly been 

 done much better, several times before. 



Descuiption of larva. — Head. — The face Hat, bright red-brown in 

 colour, the clypeus well-marked as a triangular shield, Avith a small 

 black angle (/\) at apex ; the whole face covered with brown and white 

 warts, giving it a scabrous appearance ; the crown of the head with 

 median furrow, giving a horned appearance to each side ; the cheeks 

 duller brown than the face, thickly warted with brown ; the ocelli 

 black, remarkably bead-like in appearance, of varying sizes (under a 

 one-sixth lens). Head somewhat retractile within the prothorax. 



Shin. — The skin appears to be of a dark, dirty-brown colour, to the 

 naked eye, but under a one-sixth lens is pale greyish, with a tinge of 

 green, and marvellously covered with remarkable little spherical warts 

 of two distinct kinds :— (1) Black. (2) White. The skin of_ the 

 thoracic segments is very much wrinkled, and presents a great differ- 

 ence in appearance when compared with the less wrinkled skin of the 

 abdominal segments, the latter, except at the incisions, where they 

 are wrinkled, being fairly well filled out. The use of the wrinkled 

 thoracic skin is evidently to give the larva greater reaching power, an 

 important factor in its existence. 



