20 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



in these parts, and the larvae perished through the uprooting of 

 the food-plant, before they could come to maturity ; I think we 

 may assume this, after the abundance of the imago in 1875, The 

 pupa was a light brown when I received it, and has darkened 

 since; probably when found it had but just changed. Wild 

 convolvulus grew amongst the potatoes where it was found. — 

 H. M, GoLDiNG Bird; 45, Elgin Crescent, Kensington 

 Park, November 20, 187G. 



Note on the Larva of Polia Xanthomista var. nigro- 

 ciNCTA. — On the 8th of September, 1875, I visited my 

 breeding cages as usual about six p.m.; I then observed a 

 male P. nigrocincta sitting upon the side of the cage. A 

 short time afterwards I again looked, and then found a 

 female in the act of coming out of pupa; I left them in 

 company, which resulted in copulation at about ten o'clock 

 the same evening. After disunion 1 kept the female ; she 

 was very sluggish in her habits : during the day she sat 

 perfectly quiet upon a suitable place of nearly her own 

 colour. On the third night afterwards she deposited her 

 first eggs, about a dozen in number; again, the following 

 night, she laid about a dozen more, and on the sixth night 

 she completed her oviposition, having laid on this occasion 

 208 eggs during the night. She still lived for several days, 

 but eventually died without laying more eggs. The eggs 

 were pale pink in colour ibr about three days, when they 

 slowly changed to dirty brown : they remained of this shade 

 until the early part of April of this year, when they became a 

 dark lead-colour, and finally hatched upon the 20th of April. 

 I had previously prepared some young plants of Planiago 

 maritima, in flower-pols, for the use of these young larvae. 

 Without eating their own egg-shells they at once commenced 

 feeding upon the plantain, and fed well until about fourteen 

 days later, when they began to show signs of changing their 

 first skins: this was completed during the next three days, 

 when they again began to feed vigorously. During their first 

 days of active life these larvae were almost devoid of colour, 

 being so transparent that they were easily overlooked, though 

 in numbers, upon a small plant. However, they soon began 

 to assimilate to the colour of the narrow leaves of the plantain, 

 and were always difficult to identify, from their great resem- 

 blance to the stalks of the food-plant. There was very little 



