Reports to flic Board of A f^riailtiire. 167 



said tliat one female may lay as many as one hundred and twenty 



The larvje hatch in from two to three weeks and appear towards 

 the end of May and in June; by the end of June or in July they 

 reacli their full-fed stage and then pupate. 



'i'he larv;e (Fig. 25, ]i) are nearly an inch long when full fed, and 

 like all the larvie of this genns they have twenty-two legs. They are 

 at first pale green, almost whitish beneath, and with black sucker-feet, 

 but as they mature they become dull brownish-green, with dusky marks 

 al)Ove the pro-legs, and with a dark brown head; the sucker- feet are 

 yellow, with a brown line at the base. The first brood feed for from 

 five to seven weeks, and then pupate amongst the needles or in 

 cracks and crevices of the bark, the pupa lying in a cocoon of 

 compact 1)rown silk. These cocoons arc very ^■ariable in colour, 





Fig. 2o. 



(', I.jirva iif I.niihynig rufiLi ; h. i,f f,. iinii. 



some Ix'ing almost black, others dull brownish-grey. 'They arc al)Out 

 a ([uartcr of an inch hjug, hard and compact. In many cases these 

 cocoons reiuain o^•er the winter, but they may give rise to a second 

 brood of flies in July and August ; the progeny of the second brood 

 spin their cocoons mainly amongst the fallen needles, moss and 

 heather lieneath the trees. These ground cocoons often occur in 

 bunches, and like tliose of the first brood are very variable in colour. 

 The larv;r which form thes(! cocoons do not enter the pupal stage 

 until the spring. As many as seventy have been found together 

 beneath moss and heather. 



When the Sawfly is ready to emerge it cuts a large circular slil 

 in the top of the cocoon and escapes ; the top opening like a lid of 

 a box on hinges, 



