302 LEPIDOPTERA. 



itself as it lay on the underside, and lined the chamber 

 completely with whitish silk. They were then transfeiTed 

 to Mr. Hellins, who brought them safely through the winter, 

 but found that in the spring they left their silk-lined 

 habitations to spin up elsewhere. They were then shorter 

 than in the autumn, and of colour as already described. 

 They did not feed in the spring, but soon spun up, and 

 assumed the pupa state. 



It appears therefore that the larva feeds from the middle 

 or end of June until October, then hybernates, reappears in 

 the spring, but spins up without feeding in April. Food- 

 plant, Bracliyiwdium sijlvaticum and possibly other wood- 

 growing grasses. In the case of those described, the lai'Vce, 

 being somewhat jjrotected, left their hybernacula in March, 

 and the butterflies emerged at the end of April and in 

 May. As the butterflies were actually reared no question 

 can exist of the accuracy of the observations of Messrs. 

 Buckler and Hellins, and a strange mistake seems to have been 

 made by older authors when they described the larva as 

 " brown with two yellow dorsal stripes ; head black ; second 

 segment edged with yellow. On Plantago major." This, 

 however, is quoted by modern writers, (except that Berge 

 calls the yellow stripes " side-stripes,") and Dr. Lang has 

 figured from Htibner a dark brown larva with broad yellow 

 lettered stripes, a brown head, yellow second segment, and red 

 legs, on the same species of plantain. It is difiicult to 

 understand how this confusion has arisen. 



Pupa slender, nearly cylindrical ; head with a sharp spike 

 lying between the eyes, which are rather prominent ; other- 

 wise blunt ; back swelling up on the thorax in a gentle 

 curve, and falling away in the same manner, so that the 

 back of the abdomen is almost hollow, but rounded up again 

 at the tail ; wing-cases long ; anal extremity rounded, but 

 having a flat spike at the tip set with curled spines. Colour 

 creamy white on the back, with a very thin dark brown 



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