1865.] tj 



The food-plauts at Deal are Galium verum, or yellow ladies' bed- 

 straw, and Galium elat urn {Molhigo), or great white ladies' bedstraw; 

 though I found the larva would eat Galium saxatile, or smooth heath 

 bedstraw, but refused Galium palustre (marsh bedstraw) and G. Aparine 

 (goosegrass) . It seems to prefer the scrubby to the very luxuriant 

 plants, as comparatively few were found on the latter : one reason for 

 this, no doubt, is that, on the sand-hills, at least, the very luxuriant 

 plants are those which have been covered up with blowing sand, and so 

 probably were not visible at the time the eg^ was deposited. 



The larvae are almost always in pairs ; and when I came upon one, 

 I was seldom disappointed of finding another within the distance of a 

 few yards. 



It may seem strange that it should be difficult to notice a larva so 

 large and so brightly coloured as that of -D. galii, when full fed ; espe- 

 cially as it feeds quite exposed : but I can only say that on the sand- 

 hills it is so, — much more there than on the shingle, the grey colour of 

 which seems better than the yellow of the sand for throwing up the 

 olive of the larva, which, on the sand-hills, is generally found only on 

 plants growing on loose sand, without any covering of moss or herbage. 

 On the sand-hills, indeed, nineteen out of twenty larva? were traced 

 from the frass, which catches the eye much more readily than the larva 

 itself. The frass of small larvae may be known from that of Macroglossa 

 stellatarum (which is commonly found with it), by being less of one 

 size, owing to the more rapid increase in bulk of the larger larvae. 



On seeing " frass," observe the direction in which it increases in 

 size and in freshness. The latter is easily ascertained in dry weather ; 

 but after dew or rain, it requires an experienced eye to enable one to 

 pronounce on this point with certainty. When the direction in 

 which the larva has moved (rarely more than a yard or two) is dis- 

 covered, it is generally easy to find it, if it has not spun up, when it is 

 mere chance, as it usually moves some distance after ceasing to feed. 

 I only twice found the pupa. 



When young, the larva is generally exceedingly like that of 

 Macroglossa stellatarum of the same size, being pale or dark green, with 

 a white lateral stripe ; but the horn is not blue at the apex, as in that 

 species ; the yellow spots sometimes do not appear till the last change 

 of skin, but generally become apparent at the second cast. When full 

 fed, the larvae of the males are paler than those of the females ; at 

 least, on isolating a number of the paler larvae, I found they produced 

 male moths. 



