20O LEPIDOPTERA. 



with black, as also are the antenna cases; dorsal region 

 strongly arched, abdomen curved, and having dorsal and 

 sub-dorsal rows of short black points projecting backwards, 

 and also rows of black and orange spots. 



Suspended to a small pad of silk, on the under part of a 

 leaf or stem of its food plant, or to any neighbouring object. 

 May. 



The larvEe live in companies when j'^oung, making curious 

 little silken habitations, among grass or scabious, a short 

 distance above the ground. These habitations are deserted 

 and fresh ones formed as the exigencies of growth or feeding 

 demand, and in these the larvce, not half grown, settle down 

 for hybernation before the end of August, and remain torpid 

 until March or April. When very young they are yellowish, 

 or pale grey, but long before full growth they become of the 

 velvety black colour, though the white dots do not appear so 

 early. According to Lang, the food is plantain as well as 

 scabious. 



Moses Harris, writing more than a hundred years ago, 

 gives a very interesting account of the lai'va : — "They are 

 generally found on the side of a hill that rises with an easy 

 ascent and fronts the east, by which they have the sun most 

 powerful in the morning and avoid the too scorching heat of 

 the afternoon. It was said that they fed on plantain and 

 grass, but I found that to be a mistake, having often endea- 

 voured to feed them with both, but my endeavours were 

 always fruitless, and accordingly on April ISth, 17G0, I went 

 to Neesdon, Willesden, about seven miles from London, where 

 I was informed they were in great plenty, as indeed I found 

 them to be. Here I took great pains to watch their actions 

 for full two hours. I jjaid them several visits a few days 

 afterwards, that I might be able to give a satisfactory account 

 of them. Their food is the Devil's-bit scabious, which, at 

 that time of the year, hardly appears above ground. They 

 feed on the opening leaves as fast as they come up, which is 

 the reason that those who found the caterpillars could never 



