1 10 r October, 



Notes on the larva of Fhycis carhonariella. — This species being usually very 

 abundant on tbe di-y heatlis in this district, I determined last year, if possible, to 

 ■work out its history. Therefore, on the 2nd of July, I went up to Crossland Moor, 

 a heath almost close to the town, and, in a very short time, had netted and boxed 

 some thirty iiuagos, a fair proportion of -which were females. Several of them im- 

 mediately deposited, and the eggs were oval, though rather pointed at the ends, the 

 colour a bright light purple. On the 11th a number of them hatched, and the 

 newly-emerged larvae were very lively, red with black segmental divisions, and the 

 polislied head and frontal plate nearly black. Ling, sallow, &c., were at once sup- 

 plied, and they soon took to the sallow, quite forsaking the ling and heath, which I 

 suppose must be the natural food, as there is no sallow on the heatlis where the moths 

 occur. The red colour was retained until they were about a quarter of an inch long, 

 but after the next moult they became uniformly dull black or brownish-black, the 

 black head and frontal plate only having a polished appearance. I was from home 

 at the time the change took place, so cannot tell exactly on what date the moult 

 was effected. Up to this time, too, they had fed in the leaves, eating the inside 

 between the upper and under skins ; but after this they spun together two or more 

 leaves, and ate from the outside of the leaf, only, however, the softer parts, leaving 

 the ribs and veins. On July 28th they were three-eighths of an inch long, and, by 

 August 5th, half an inch had been attained, when I took down notes on them as 

 follows : 



Body slender, cylindrical, and of nearly uniform width, tapering only slightly 

 towards the anal extremity ; head a little narrower than the second segment, 

 rounded, the mandibles prominent ; both it and the frontal plate polished ; segmental 

 divisions well defined, and from each segment being also divided by a transverse 

 depression the skin has a rather wrinkled appearance ; there are a few scattered 

 short hairs. 



The colour of almost the whole of the larva is an uniform dull black, showing 

 brownish at the segmental divisions only, though an exceptional larva is entirely of 

 this brown tinge. The black specimens have the ventral surface slightly paler, but 

 there are no other discernible markings of any sort. Altogether it is one of the 

 most unicolorous larvaj I ever saw, and no species on our list is moi'e appropriately 

 named, the larva, imago, and habitat (the burnt charred parts of the heaths), being 

 almost equally black. 



For some days the larva? had been unaccountably disappearing, but how and 

 when I never could make out, as their cage seemed close-fitting enough. By the 

 16th I had only two or three left, and as these seemed disposed to hibernate, I de- 

 scribed the largest again, as follows : 



Length, three quarters of an inch, and proportionately stouter than when last 

 described ; the segments rather plumper, and the wrinkled appearance of the skin 

 in the earlier stage partly lost. Eaised tubercles, too, have now made their appear- 

 ance, but are not very conspicuous. In other respects the shape is the same. The 

 ground-colour is now a little paler, a distinct, but very dark, olive tint is seen 

 through the dull black, and the alimentary vessel shows as a quite black dorsal line. 

 Head, frontal plate, and tubercles polislied, black. There are no other perceptible 

 markings. Ventral surface and prologs dull dark olive-green, the legs black. 



