76 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
A NOTE ON LYMANTRIA AMPLA (Walker). 
By R. Sentor-Wurre, F.E.S. 
(With a coloured Plate.*) 
Position.—Order Lepidoptera, Heterocera. Family Lyman- 
triide. 
Distribution.—Throughout India, Burma, and Ceylon 
(Hampson). 
Food Plants—Terminalia catappa (De Niceville) ; Ficus 
religiosa (Lefroy) ; while in Ceylon I have found it on cacao, 
Carissa carandas, geranium, begonia, and rose. It appears to 
be extremely polyphagous, not one of the plants mentioned 
being even of the same natural order. The normal food plant 
in this district is probably cacao. 
Occurrence.—There appear to be four broods a year, in 
January, April, June, and October. 
Eqg.—ggs are laid on the food plant in masses, which may 
measure as much as 25 mm. by 15 mm. by 12 mm., and which 
contain hundreds of eggs. The individual eggs are pinkish, 
over 1 mm. in diameter. The egg mass is covered with buff 
down from the body of the female moth. 
Larva —The hatching of an egg mass commences in about 
11-12 days after laying, and continues irregularly for two or 
three days. The young larve make their first meal off the 
ego shell, and are at first 3 mm. long, buff in colour; but 
within twenty-four hours they darken to light brown, with a 
darker bar dorsally on abdominal segments 1-4 and 6-9, the 
ends of the bars being rounded off. As is usual with all 
Lymantriid larve, there are rings of small hair-bearing papules 
on each segment, and on either side of the head is an anteriorly 
directed hair pencil, but the large dorsal hair cushions on the 
leading abdominal segments so noticeable in other genera of 
the family are wanting. 
The appearance of the larva remains thus until a length of 
15-20 mm. is attained. During this time there are probably 
two instars. 


