THK VICTOKIAX NATURALIST. 



89 



twenty ova, which hatched upon the 4th May. I put the young 

 larvae upon Knot Grass (Polygonum aviculare), a well- known and 

 highly useful weed to the breeder of Lepidoptera. The young 

 caterpillars grew very slowly, being quite small on tiie 17th May ; 

 at first they made small holes in the leaves, but after the second 

 moult they began to eat from the edges. Owing to the supply 

 of Knot Grass failing, I had to substitute dock, which they ate, 

 but did not appear to relish ; and several died at this period, 

 bringing the number down to about a dozen. On the 6th July I 

 found some young shoots of Knot Grass for them, and they then 

 seemed to thrive better, though growing very slowly, and always 

 keeping to the lowest leaves. At this time the weather was very 

 cold in the open — sharp frost on several nights. When first 

 hatched these larvae were slender and glaucous green. On the 

 17th July I made the following description, which I give as 

 probably it has never been described before : — Length about 

 y% inch, somewhat stumpy looking ; head fuscous, with a cinerous 

 stripe each side ; body fuscous ; there is a narrow uninterrupted 

 black dorsal line and a double sub-dorsal line of a cinerous colour ; 

 the lateral line is also cinerous, edged above with black. Each 

 segment has a few scattered setose tubercles, and the segments 

 are somewhat sharply defined. These larvae were extremely 

 sluggish in their movements, and upon being handled became 

 rigid and feigned death; by the beginning of September they had 

 attained a good size, 

 and were feeding 

 freely; another month 

 found them all 

 changed to dark 

 pupae, and the moths 

 appeared during No- 

 vember. 



Hypochroma occul- 

 taria, a handsome 

 species, and common 

 near Melbourne, is 

 very fond of resting 

 outspread upon the 

 rail fences usually 

 enclosing paddocks, 

 and its colour assimi- 

 lating very closely to 

 the weather-worn r 



wood, it is hard to LarV " ^ lmag °' H yP ochroma oaullaria. 



distinguish when in this position ; it may be found from November 

 to May. The larvae feed chiefly upon the peppermint gum, and 

 have curious cone-shaped heads, which when at rest they hold so 



