50 [August, 



Meanwliile, Mr. Jeffrey had captured one or two more female 

 moths, and confined them with three or four species of grass from their 

 locality, and he found Bracliypodium sylvaticum to be the one most 

 favoured, of which he kindly gave me abundant evidence on the 9th 

 of August with a blade of this grass on which were laid, in the most 

 natural manner, about seventy eggs, singly, and side by side in scat- 

 tered groups ; to this grass the larvae of the first brood took readily 

 and left the Phalaris, their second moult occurring on 16th to 17th, 

 and third moult 25th to 27th, when apparently they fed no more before 

 they were laid up to hibernate ; the later brood were, of course, fed 

 throughout on the Brachypodium and throve well, moulting also three 

 times, the second moult happening from 16th to 19th September, the 

 third moult from the 26th to 4th of October, and on the 5th all were 

 hibernating. 



On 21st of February, 1882, the air became suddenly warm, and 

 many of the larvae awoke from their long sleep, and for several days 

 hung suspended by short threads ; they seemed very weak and unable 

 to feed, though their grass was beginning to put forth tender shoots, 

 yet they soon relapsed into a torpid state when the weather became 

 colder during the month of March, and many then died. 



On the 1st of April, with milder weather, I observed one indivi- 

 dual larva had, by its bright colours, apparently moulted, though I had 

 no other evidence to judge from, as it was feeding openly on the potted 

 grass quite unprotected ; its next moult took place in captivity at 

 midnight of the 19th, it recommenced feeding in course of next day, 

 and continued till the 29th, when it was laid up for what proved to be 

 its last moult, which occurred late at night on 6th of May, and from 

 that date it fed on till the 15th, when it was again laid up, but this 

 time for the pupal change, which occurred on the night of the 20th : 

 in like manner I watched the changes of three others, the last one be- 

 coming a pupa on 8th of June. 



The perfect insects were bred on the mornings of June 6th, 16th, 

 18th, and 27th, those on the second and last date were females ; on 

 comparing notes with Mr. Jeffrey for this account, I found his first , 

 moth was bred on the same da}^ at about the same hour as mine, and 

 that a large proportion of his larvse had been reared on Brachypodium 

 pinnatum. 



The egg of sericealis is circular in outline, not quite flat, but just 

 a little rounded at the circumferent margin, very numerously ribbed 

 and reticulated, of a light greenish-drab tint, semi-transparent, and 



