34 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



clown to the bottom of the burrow underneath the last abdominal 

 segment of the pupa. 



The chrysalis of this insect varies much in size, ranging 

 from twenty-four to thirty lines in length ; it is of a very 

 attenuated form, the widest portion being through the middle of 

 the thorax ; behind this it gradually tapers off towards the 

 extremit}^, with the last segment abruptly truncated. Its colour 

 is light ruddy ochre, with the head and dorsal portion of the 

 thorax dark brown, and harder than the rest of the body. The 

 edges of the abdominal segments are furnished dorsally with a 

 row of small booklets above and below all the dividing sutures ; 

 on the ventral surface there is only a single one, which is 

 situated in front of each articulation. 



As development progresses in the pupa it becomes darker in 

 colour, especially on the wing-cases, which in some individuals 

 show the future black markings of the moth as early as two 

 months before emergence ; others remain quite white and soft, 

 the green wings suddenly appearing through their cases a fort- 

 night or three weeks prior to the bursting forth of the imago. 

 Previous to this change the pupa works its way up the vertical 

 tunnel, forces open the trap-door, which yields to the -slightest 

 pressure from within, and wriggles along the horizontal burrow 

 until it reaches the air, the last three or four segments only 

 remaining in the tree. The thoracic shield then ruptures, and 

 the moth crawls out and expands its wings in the ordinary way, 

 resting on the trunk of the tree until they are of sufficient 

 strength and hardness for flight. 



Although nearly all the " currants " in this locality are 

 perforated by the larvae of C. virescens, I have never yet found a 

 living example in the open, and only twice have discovered 

 remains of them ; once a dead crippled specimen at the foot of 

 a tunnelled tree ; on another occasion I found a pair of wings 

 belonging to this moth in the middle of a road near Palmerston 

 North. This specimen had evidently been devoured by some 

 bird like its British relative, Zeuzera asculi, whose wings we so 

 often observe on footpaths in the vicinity of London. 



Previous to the present year the obscure habits of this 

 insect have prevented me from rearing the moth in captivity, and 

 it was not until I had destroyed several examples of both larvae 

 and pupae that I discovered the true nature of its burrow. 



