6 LEPIDOPTERA. 



red, and preceded by two or three small smoky-black clouds 

 toward the apex. Body and legs pale ochreous ; tibia3 barred 

 and tipped with purple-red. 



Slightly variable in the degree of black dottiug over the 

 surface of the fore wings and rather more so in the orange- 

 red dappling; sometimes this colour in a great measure 

 suffuses the whole surface, in which case the black dots are 

 diminished in number or almost obliterated, and in one form, 

 well known on the Continent, the colour is smooth orange- 

 chestnut without other markings except small black dots in 

 the reniform stigma and along the hind margin. The nearest 

 approach to this variety which I have seen here has been 

 obtained in Somersetshire ; as also has a somewhat similar 

 but deeper red form, almost unicolorous, but having one or 

 two white dots on the costa ; and another suffused with red- 

 brown. 



On the wing in October and November, going into hyber- 

 nation only when the cold becomes severe, appearing again 

 from the end of February till April ; but when reared in 

 captivity almost every individual seems to emerge in August 

 or September. 



Larva 1£ inch in length when at rest, but more than \\ 

 when in motion, having unusual power of self-extension and 

 contraction ; stoutest at the twelfth segment and thence 

 tapering regularly to the head, which is the smallest ; the 

 thirteenth tapering rapidly behind, the anal pair of prolegs 

 remarkably close together ; the skin is soft, and each seg- 

 ment swells out plumply in the middle. When full grown 

 the head is intensely black ; the body purplish-brown, 

 glistening in certain lights with a faint, violet, mealy gloss ; 

 dorsal region curiously freckled with very fine blackish- 

 brown curved marks which do not touch the other markings 

 but allow them to stand out quite distinctly ; dorsal vessel 

 visible as an indistinct paler dorsal line ; down the back from 

 the fourth segment are transversely oval blackish-brown 



