1874.1 S7 



Natural Illslortf of Aslhcna Blomeraria. — To IMr. W. II. OrigR, of Bristol, is 

 clue tlie credit of discovering the larva and food of this species, which has baflled us 

 so long. 



In July last year Mr. Q^rigg took the moths in some immbcrs, and found them 

 free to lay their eggs in chip boxes, and ho most kindly sent mc a good supply of 

 them, together with information as to every kind of green thing that grew in their 

 locality ; when, therefore, the larva? hatched they were supplied with leaves of all 

 tlie trees and plants which liad been suggested, but they would touch none of them ; 

 we then thought of lichens, and supplied them also, but with no better success ; all 

 our young larvre died of starvation. 



However, in September, Mr. Grrigg visited the locality again, and, after a good 

 deal of hard work, succeeded in beating from some wych elms gi'owing there a large 

 number of Geometers ; most of them proved to be Abraxas tdmala, but with them 

 ■were several othei-s of a smaller species, which, from their likeness to the larva of 

 Venusia camhrlcaria, gave us great hopes. They were, however, horribly ichncu- 

 moned, nine out of every ten being thus infested ; but, luckily, some three or four 

 sound ones were secured, and this summer i*emovcd all doubt by appearing in tlie 

 imago state as A. Blomeraria. 



Being now sure of the food, Mr. Grrigg again procured eggs this summer, and 

 generously halved his supply with me ; but the young larva? in confinement arc so 

 abominably restless aiul obstinate, that, although I had considerably more than a 

 hundred eggs, I have been able to rear barely twenty-five larva;, and Mr. G^rigg not 

 so many. No wonder we failed with them last season, when together with wych elm 

 we gave them so many other sorts of food to choose from, for now, with nothing but 

 the wych elm leaves in their bottle, I found they would not feed at all, but would 

 continually crawl to the light, and entangle themselves together till they were starved : 

 at last I shut them up with some twigs in a largo tin box, making tlie cover quite 

 secure by stufling cotton wool all round, and left them to tlicmselves for some days, 

 and in this way I managed to rear the number above mentioned. 



1'his year (1871) the eggs were laid on July 9th and 11th, tlie larva; hatched on 

 tlie 18tli and following days, and now as I write (August 1-lth) all ai'o in their last 

 skin, and several nearly full fed. 



Last year (1873) I had the eggs during the last week of July and the first week 

 of August, the larva; hatcliing from July 30th onwards, but living only a day or two : 

 the larva;, nearly full fed, were captured during the last week in September, and the 

 survivors among them changed to pupa; in a few days. 



From tlie manner in which the moth deposits her eggs in any crevice in the chip 

 box, I imagine that in freedom slie would arrange them in small batches along the 

 ribs on the under-side of the leaves, whicli in the wych clra arc very prominent, and 

 I noticed that the larvae prefer to remain on the undei'-side of the leaves throughout 

 llieir existence, carefully spinning a thread wherever they move ; in feeding, at first 

 they eat ouly the uiuler-surfaec of the leaf, but by the time they arc a quarter of an 

 inch long, they eat holes quite through the leaves, generally avoiding the ribs, at last 

 reducing them almost to skeletons. 



The egg is small, somewhat brick-shaped, being long and flattened, but one end 

 is squurer and thicker tlian the other; the shell glistening, and covered with a 



