132 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



NOTES ON THE LARV^ AND FUFJE OF BIRCHIP 

 HETEROCERA. 



Part II. 

 By D. Goudie. 

 {Read be/ore the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 8th December, 1902. 

 Destolmia lineata, Walker. — The larvae of this moth are to be 

 taken in this district from the end of August to the beginning of 

 October, feeding on the leaves of Acacia stenophylla. They 

 belong to that class of caterpillars that are termed " loopers " by 

 entomologists, on account of the way they arch their bodies when 

 crawling. When not engaged in demolishing the leaves they 

 generally rest on a twig, holding only by the claspers, after the 

 fashion of the larva of Gastrophora henricaria, recently described 

 and figured in the Naturalist by Mr. E. Anderson. They are 

 very numerous at times, almost stripping the trees on which they 

 feed ; but so numerous and active are their parasitical enemies 

 that the collector can consider himself lucky if he gets a single 

 moth from twenty or thirty caterpillars. When full-grown they 

 enter the hard earth, generally a foot or two from the butt of the 

 tree, and there form a cell. The duration of the pupal stage 

 under normal conditions is about six months, the moths emerging 

 in March. I may also mention that these caterpillars are easily 

 dislodged by shaking. 



Larva. — Length, i]^ to i^s inches. Head shining bluish 

 green. Ground colour of body yellowish-green, slightly darker on 

 lateral area. Dorsal line somewhat indistinct, dark green in 

 colour. Below this there is a suffused crimson sub-dorsal line 

 bordered with yellow below and pinkish white outlined narrowly 

 with black above. A lateral row of plain black spots is also 

 present, the first, close behind the head, being especially large and 

 noticeable. Upper surface, with the exception of the first 

 segment, covered with small white spots clearly outlined with 

 black. A few short black hairs are also present. Ventral 

 surface bluish-green, bordered with white. Hind claspers green, 

 without markings. Legs green ; feet dark red. 



Pxhfa. — Length, from J^ to ^ of an inch. Moderately stout. 

 Light green at first, changing to reddish-brown ; anal segment 

 terminating in a bifurcate spine. Dorsal half immediately above 

 latter hollow. 



Note. — In the first part of this paper, Yict. Nat., xix., page 8o, 

 the words " not pronged like X. cryptophaga " should read 

 " not pronged like Cryptoj^haga leucadelpha." 



