200 [February, 



Mr. Hellins tried some of them in a flower-pot with growing plants of dandelions 

 and knot-grass, both of which plants were eaten, but apparently not so freely as 

 the lettuce ; but the worst part of the business was that the soil in the pot was in- 

 fested with little earth-leeches, which destroyed most of the larvse. The rest were 

 treated in the same manner as we had,been accustomed to deal with A. rip(B ; i.e., 

 placed in a large pot with a quantity of sea sand, their food being laid on the sur- 

 face, and here they prospered satisfactorily. 



On October 21st, some had grown about five-eighths of an inch long, and at 

 that date figures were taken, and again on November 14th, when the most advanced 

 had attained its maximum growth of one inch and one eighth in length. On the 

 24th December I had more examples of similar dimensions. 



The larva has a small head and anal segment, the body being plump and 

 cylindrical, with a rather semi-circular inflation on the region of each spiracle ; the 

 segmental divisions deeply cut ; the legs and prolegs small in proportion. 



The colom- of the back is at first dark ochreous brown, but changes gradually 

 with its growth to brownish ochreous or dull ochreous ; this tint is bounded on 

 either side by the dark brown edge of the sub-dorsal line ; there is a delicate 

 mottling of rather darker brown of a pear shape on each segment, its broad end in 

 front, through which runs the dorsal line, which is of the brown colour (paler 

 when the larva is quite full grown), and is very thin at the beginning but expands 

 almost into an elongated diamond form at the end of each segment, and is dis- 

 tinctly edged with darker brown, particularly at its widest part. 



The sub-dorsal line is dark brown, having close beneath it a mere thread of 

 very pale greenish grey ; and from this to the spiracles, the sides are greyish 

 brown ; another pale thread, much interrupted, running a little above the spiracles. 



Below the spiracles is a very faint trace of a double dirty whitish line, all 

 the rest of the lower and under surface being a pale greenish grey tint and 

 semi-translucent. 



The head brown, the lobes and mouth marked with darker brown, and very 

 shining. A dark brown plate on the second segment having three pale longi- 

 tudinal lines. 



The spiracles are black, and the tubercular warty dots very dark brown each 

 furnished with a very minute short hair. 



On the 14th January, 1868, I observed one larva no more than half grown, 

 whilst the full grown larvae had lost much of their distinctive markings by becoming 

 more unicolorous in tint, a proof of their being now full fed. 



William Buckler, Emsworth. 



Correction of an error. — I suppose I must have fair-copied my sacraria, note in 

 a hurry, for I see that the last sentence on page 179 does not express what I meant 

 to say : " For v^'e can scarcely suppose that the specimens taken year by year are 

 fresh immigrants, or their ofi'spring produced during the warmer months." This 

 is what I meant to write — perhajjs it would have been clearer if I had made it 

 longer : — " are fresh immigrants, or the oflspring of immigrants, which arrived in 

 time to secure sufficient warm weather for the perfecting of their broods. — 

 J, Hellins, Exeter. 



