THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 209 



larva cominences life by making a small blotch on the upper 

 surface of the birch-leaf; the little spot-like mine is of a 

 brown colour; it would appear as though the larva possessed 

 the power of staining the leaf; certain it is that the region of 

 its birth-place, for the radius of about a quarter of an inch 

 or so, becomes dark brown, as thongh mimicking the mines 

 of such Microlepidopterous larvae as Cemiostoma scitella of 

 Zeller and Tischeria dodonaea of Stainton. One first notices 

 these brown spots on the birch-leaves at the latter part of the 

 month of June, and on examining the larva at that period it 

 is found to have a light brown mouth, and a whitish head 

 with light brown markings ; the outer margin of its head is 

 also light brown ; the body is white, the dorsal vessel dark 

 green ; it has twenty-two legs — six pectoral, fourteen ventral 

 and two anal ; its 5lh and 13th segments are destitute of 

 legs, and it feeds with its belly facing the upper part of its 

 food ; its four anterior segments are much larger at this 

 period of its existence than the others. It is a cleanly little 

 animal, and takes considerable pains to keep its mined 

 abode untainted by frass. One is interested in observing 

 that although the larva is slowly consuming the tissues of the 

 leaf, yet at the same time little, if any, frass is perceived 

 within the mine : on turning the mined leaf over, fully ex- 

 pecting to find a hole on its under side for the ejection of 

 frass, no such hole meets the eye ; but if the edge of the leaf 

 in the neighbourhood of the blotch be then closely examined 

 with a pocket-lens, one or two little openings are perceived, 

 the little caterpillar having separated the two skins of the 

 leaf for the express purpose of ejecting its frass and cast-ofF 

 skins, thus pursuing a precisely similar course to that 

 adopted by the sallow-feeding larva of Phyllotoma melano- 

 pygaofKlug. In good time the larva moults: it is then 

 observed that there is not anything like so great a dispropor- 

 tion between the sizes of the four anterior segments and the 

 others, so conspicuously noticeable before the ecdysis took 

 place. When the decorative markings have fully developed 

 themselves, the mouth is observed to be dark reddish brown ; 

 the head brown, darker at the sides ; the back of the 2nd 

 segment has a dark shining brown-coloured plate, with a 

 divisional line running down its centre ; the body is white, 

 the dorsal vessel green. On laying the larva on its back, the 



