PLUME-MOTHS OF CEYLON. 29 



Early Stages. — Larva. — The earlier larval stadia are as yet un- 

 known, but the older larvae and pupae are to be found commonly on 

 Boerhavia repens. 



The following description was made from a larva found at Galle 

 on May 10, 1907 : — " The larva has just cast its skin (which remains 

 alongside it, uneaten), and is probably just commencing its final 

 instar. Length 5-5 mm. Breadth in thickest part (about middle) 

 1-5 mm. Hairs about 1 mm. long. In shape it is cylindrical, 

 moderately stout, tapering at either extremity. When crawling the 

 thoracic segments, especially the prothoracic, are greatly extended 

 and appear very slender and flattened. The head appears to be 

 uniformly jetty-black, but under a high-power lens the central portion 

 and jaws are seen to be yellowish with a few short yellowish hairs. 

 The ground-colour along the side is a pale yellowish shade of dirty 

 gray with a tinge of red (this last colour is more pronounced in some 

 specimens). There is a narrow medio-dorsal stripe of a shade 

 rather darker than the ground-colour and a little redder. On the 

 metathoracic segment the two warts edging the medio-dorsal line 

 are faintly marked with dark reddish-fuscous ; the four succeeding 

 segments have these warts distinctly marked with the same dark 

 reddish-fuscous, and therefore show up like spots. (In other larvae 

 all these dorsal warts are more or less marked with dark fuscous, 

 shading off at either extremity of the larva.) A broad but indistinct 

 fuscous subspiracular line. A rather broad ventral pale-greenish 

 stripe. The prolegs are very long and slender and are of a pale 

 grayish greenish-yellow, the hooks dark ; the legs are similarly 

 coloured. The long hairs appear dark, but there are numerous 

 minute white knobbed glandular secondary hairs scattered over the 

 segments, and these appear to secrete a viscous fluid." 



The following is a description of two full-fed larvae found at 

 Colombo on October 18, 1907 : — " Stout, stoutest about fourth 

 somite, decreasing thence rapidly towards the head, anally gradually. 

 Colour a pale yellow with a faint tinge of fuscous green. There 

 is a broad dull reddish longitudinal spiracular stripe, on which the 

 spiracles stand out as pale longitudinal blotches. The medio-dorsal 

 stripe has a faint tinge of red in it, making it a little darker than 

 the ground-colour. On either side of this, bordering the darker 

 brown latero-dorsal tubercles, is a series of whitish longitudinal 

 dashes, forming two interrupted dorsal lines — these markings 

 absent in one larva. Head dark brown. The long hairs are black 

 and obviously sticky. 



" A younger larva, about half -grown, is dark brown without any 

 obvious markings, the hairs very distinctly clubbed at the apex." 



The figure (Plate F, figure 2) will show the disposition of thr> 

 setigerous tubercles better than any verbal description. 



The larva is generally rather sluggish but can be quite active, e.g. , 

 if searching for food. If it loses its foothold, it drops by a silken 



