THE ATHALIA GROUP OF THE GENUS MELIT^.A. 335 



the other; whilst on the ninth abdominal, he says, there are four 

 spines, two on eacH side, in a line with the supra-spiracular row. 

 It would, I believe, be more exact to say that the eighth abdomi- 

 nal bears nine spines, the loive?- ventral pair being absent and the 

 dorsal being placed far forward on the segment— that the ninth 

 bears three, viz. the supra-spiracular pair and the dorsal, the 

 latter again being on the very front of the segment, and the 

 tenth abdominal bearing the supra-spiracular pair only. With 

 these modifications the description so far would apply equally 

 well to the larvse oi partlienie and aurelia, except that the central 

 rows of spines are much less developed in the former on the 

 prothorax, better developed in the latter ; in parthenie also the 

 upper ventral pair are very slightly represented, and the lower 

 ventral absent on the metathorax. I find also in my notes made 

 from the living larvae that in parthenie the supra-spiracular and 

 in aurelia the sub-spiracular pair are present on the ninth abdo- 

 minal, but as there is no spiracle on this segment this merely 

 means that the pair present are placed somewhat higher in the 

 former than in the latter. " Of all these spines," says Buckler 

 of athalia, and it would be equally true of parthenie and aurelia, 

 " those in the two lowest rows are the most slender and the 

 smallest, and those in the subdorsal rows are rather the largest." 

 With regard to colour, he continues : — " The ground colour of 

 the back is black, becoming gradually blackish olive on the sides, 

 the belly olive-brown, the anal flap and also the segmental 

 divisions olive ; all the skin is thickly covered with whitish spots 

 that are very slightly raised, giving it a tessellated appearance, 

 except that a dorsal stripe of the black ground is left." This 

 latter is not conspicuous. " There is a lateral series of three 

 large irregular spots on each segment below the spiracles, which 

 almost forms a broadish longitudinal stripe." These spots are 

 not raised like the small ones, and would, I think, have been 

 better described as a rather broad, irregular, whitish stripe 

 below the spiracles. " The head is black, with a transverse 

 whitish stripe just above the mouth, and a group of whitish 

 spots on the crown of each lobe, which, as does the rest of the 

 head, emit fine black bristly hairs ; on the front of the prothorax 

 is a narrow, raised, semi- circular plate of greyish flesh-colour, 

 also emitting black bristly hairs ; the colour of the spines of the 

 dorsal and subdorsal rows is orange-ochreous, growing whitish 

 at the tip, and of the dorsal row also rather pale at the base ; 

 those of the supra-spiracular row are of a paler ochreous tint, 

 with more of their tips whitish ; all the spines are thickly set 

 with straight, short, pointed black bristles at an acute angle, 

 and, for the most part, each white spot on the body emits a fine, 

 short black hair ; the spiracles are black, ringed with whitish ; 

 the anterior legs black, the ventral prolegs of a pellucid drab 

 colour, tipped with darker drab hooks." 



