34 LEPIDOPTERA. 



Lakva dark green dotted with black, and with a narrow, 

 yellow and white, spiraciilar line. Feeding on clover and 

 other leguminous plants in June, and (rarely) again in 

 August. 



Pupa "green, with a brownish-yellow lateral stripe." 

 (Lang.) 



Mr. Tugwell recorded in the Intdlignicer for 1857 that he 

 obtained eggs on August 25th, and that the young larv* fed 

 on Medicago sativa, Trifolium rcpens, and T. suhterraneum ; also 

 that they would lie along the midrib of a leaflet, so that when 

 it closed at night, as is the habit of those plants, the little 

 larva was quite hidden and protected. 



It appears certain that, occasionally, the larva' feed up at 

 large in this country, as in the case of those found near Dover 

 in September and October, and where specimens of earlier 

 emergence have been found with the wings still soft and barely 

 expanded, or even crippled and unable to fly ; but the capture 

 of the larva in this country does not appear to be recorded. 



The butterfly is extremely uncertain in its appearances. At 

 long intervals it occurs in numbers on the South Coast, and 

 even, in decreasing numbers, over a large portion of tlie 

 kingdom. Perhaps its most abundant year was 1868, and it 

 appeared in considerable numbers in some localities in 1835, 

 1842, 1857-58, and 1875 ; but in many years hardly more than 

 a specimen or two is seen, in others not one ; and much research 

 has been expended upon the perplexing question of its retreat 

 during these long intervals. The suggestion has been made 

 that it lies for many years in the pupa state ; but of this there 

 is no evidence, and the fact that it feeds upon plants which 

 are cultivated, in ground frequently ploughed up, or at any 

 rate which are constantly consumed by animals, appears 

 conclusive to the contrary. Another suggestion — that the eggs 

 are introduced from abroad with seed of lucerne or other 

 cultivated plants — must have been put forward without con- 

 sideration of the habits of the insect, or of the means by 

 which seed is harvested and prepared for the market. It is 



