Hudson. — Origin of the Vegetable Caterpillar. 195 



peduncle ; (g) the form and extent of the cushion of siphon o- 

 zooids on the pinnae ; and (h) the arrangement of the siphono- 

 zooids on the rachis. 



I propose to give a more detailed account of the species in 

 another place. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE VL 



Fig. I. Sarcophyllum Ijollonsi (natural size) ; only on one side are tlie 

 zooids indicated on the edges of the pinnae : a, peduncle ; 

 b, vane ; c, pinnae (dorsal margins). 



Fig. 2. Apex of the colony, with pinnae pushed apart to show the siphono- 

 zooids : a, apex ; i, pinnae ; c, siphonozooids ; d, rachis. 



Fig. 3. A single leaflet or pinna seen from below : a, cushion of siphono- 

 zooids ; b, base of attachment to axis ; c, ventral margin ; 

 d, dorsal or polypigerous margin, with polyps (autozooids) 

 diagrammatically represented. 



Art. XVIII. — Recent Observations respecting the Origin of the 

 Vegetable Caterpillar. 



By G. V. Hudson, F.E.S. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 6th June, lyOCi.] 



In the " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " for 1S03, 

 page 170, Mr. Alfred Philpott states that he has practically 

 reared Porina dinodes from a healthy larva which precisely 

 agreed in structure with larvse attacked by the Sphceria fungus 

 and popularly known as " vegetable caterpillars." Since this 

 time two additional facts have come under my notice indicating 

 that " vegetable caterpillars " belong to several distinct species 

 of Hepialid larvae, and throwing considerable light on the origin 

 of these remarkable objects. 



Several years ago the late Mr. N. J. Tone, who was then 

 Secretary to the Wellington Acclimatisation Society, called me 

 into his office to see a specimen of vegetable caterpillar which 

 he had found in the trunk of a tree and had kept in the same 

 position as it had occupied when he discovered it. On exami- 

 nation I at once recognised the insect as a larva of Hepialus 

 virescens, and the portion of the tree-trunk with the burrow in 

 which this larva was situated precisely agreed with the usual 

 habitat of that species. I informed Mr. Tone at the time that 



