\ 14 [October, 



About the middle of March I notiocd they liad increased somewliat in length, and 

 considerably in stoutness, and that they were now eating the leaflets iu the usual 

 way ; and by April 1st they were quite one-eighth of an inch long, and could eat a 

 whole leaflet at a meal. Through this month they grew rapidly, the warm weather 

 suiting them well, and they ate voraciously, till, by the 30th, several of the most 

 advanced in growth had hidden themselves under the loose soil for pupation : after 

 waiting eight or ton days, they changed, and finally the butterflies came out between 

 June 2nd and 15tli. 



Mr. H. Terry of St. Mary's Church, Torquay, informs me that he finds the first 

 flight of Adonis on the wing by May 20th, and the second about the middle of 

 August ; the two broods, therefore, taking respectively mne and three months out of 

 the twelve to complete all their transformations. 



The egg of Adonis resembles those of its congeners, being small, round and 

 flattened in figure, the shell covered with raised reticulation, having prominent 

 knobs at the angles ; the central portion of the upper surface looks sunk, being 

 covered with finer reticulation with no knobs ; the colour is a light dull gi'cy, the 

 reticulation and knobs white. 



The larva escapes through an irregular and rather large hole in the upper surface of 

 the egg, and the empty egg-shell looks whitish ; the young larva is pale whitish- 

 green, soon becoming a full but didl green ; all the warts furnished with hairs, which 

 produce a downy appearance. During the winter months the green is replaced by 

 reddish-brown, and again, in the early spring, the larva becomes pale pm*plish-brown, 

 with the dorsal Immps and the sub-spiracvilar ridge showing pale ochreous-brown ; 

 after a moult, about the end of March, the dull greenish hue comes back, the jjalor 

 marks becoming yellowish, and the hairs black. 



The full-grown larva is about five-eighths of an inch long, and a'quartcr-of-an-inch 

 wide, onisciform, with the head small and retractile beneath the second segment ; 

 the segments deeply divided ; there is a double dorsal row of eight Immps on seg- 

 ments three to ten inclusive, enclosing a slightly hollow space, which is broadest on 

 three, and thence tapers gradually to ten ; the side spreads out to a rounded ridge 

 running round the body, and hiding the legs from view when tlie larva is at rest ; 

 in colour, the head is very dark brown, the body is deep, full green, covered with 

 tiny black specks bearing little black bristles, which are longest on the dorsal liumps 

 and sub-spiracular ridge ; on the top of each of the eight pairs of dorsal humps is a 

 deep bright yellow longitudinal dash somewhat wider behind than in front ; these 

 dashes form in effect two yellow stripes interrupted by the deeply-sunk segmental 

 divisions ; along the rounded edge of the sub-spiracular ridge is a stripe of bright 

 and very deep yellow going all round, save a slight interruption on the sides of the 

 second segment ; on the second are two yellow dots just above the head, and above 

 them again two small black spots ; on the third there is a very faint yellowish dot 

 half-way between the dorsal and sub-spiracular stripes ; just above the feet is a row 

 of yellow longitudinal dashes, briglitest on the feet-bearing segments, and, in one 

 example, these dashes were curved upwards, and united at the end of each segment 

 to the yellow ridge above ; in some specimens the ventral feet are also marked with 

 yellow ; the spiracles are conspicuous, being round and black j the pulsating dorsal 

 vessel is rather deeper green that the ground-colour. 



■ Some of my larva; bm*ied themselves about half-an-inch deep in the loose soil, 



