LARENTID.-F.—CIDARrA. 265 



flarum) feedino- upon the unripe seeds; also upon T. 

 rujiii/a/ifoliini). T. iiiitiif^, am] even on the old withered 

 leaves of columbine {A>ji>ilif/liy ri'Ii/aris). Mr. A. Fryer has 

 proved that when feeding on '/'. iii/i'ilc;iiJ'o/liiiii this larva has 

 the curious habit of biting half-wa_y through the stalks, and 

 feeding on the leaves which by this means have become 

 jiartly withered. He states that the bitten stalk of the 

 plant, with dangling leaves all over it, lietrayed in the first 

 place the existence of the unknown larva. A similar habit 

 seems to have been noticed u])on 7'. Jlnnini. and Mr. II. 

 Fortescue Fryer, who has recently given the subject some 

 attention, is of opinion that the leaves are treated in this 

 manner from lack of the ordinary food, the seeds. Some 

 remarks liy this gentleman, recently published in the Ento- 

 inoloijistH Monf/ili/ Mciija-inc, on the habits of this creature 

 are well worthy of being quoted. 



" The egg has a very close resendjlance to the stamens of 

 T. flanun, on which it is often deposited, Ijoth in shape and 

 iu its bright yellow colour. The young larva, when first 

 hatched, is of the same colour, still in imitation of the 

 stamens, among which it conceals itself while feeding on the 

 flower-parts. As it increases in size it turns to a light 

 brown, the stamens having by tliis time fulfilled their office 

 and faded to the same coloin-. Here, again, the resemblance 

 is maintained. Later still, when tlie seeds are formed, the 

 larva feeds on them, and as each seed is cleaned out or 

 partially eaten it becomes brown, giving the panicle a vai'ie- 

 gated appearance of yellow-green and brown. The larva 

 has now acipiired its well-known rich banded colouring of 

 brown and shades of green, imitating lespectively the empty 

 brown seed husks and the untouched green seeds of the 

 food plant. So close is this imitation that it ref|uires a 

 (piick eye to detect the larva, sitting as it nearl\' invariably 

 does in a curved position in tlie ]ianicle.'' 



1 have found it at niijiil. whiMi feeding, tii l)e quite easily 

 discoverable hy tin- aiil of a lantern. 



