THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 241 
Deilephila Euphorbiz, but without success, never having 
seen the least trace of it. In fact I have found it to be 
deserted by every creature, with the exception of a small 
Tortrix-like larva, whose history I hear is not commonly 
known, and for that reason the following life-history may not 
be uninteresting to your readers:—The egg of Mixodia 
Hawkerana is scale-like, about half a line over, very pale 
brown in colour, and the surface of the shell is closely 
granulated. In April, May and August the egg is laid, in 
most instances singly, on a leaf of the Euphorbia; and in 
eight days the young larva emerges from the shell, and 
commences at once to eat its way through the leaf to the 
stem of the plant. As it goes on feeding, it separates leaf 
after leaf from their basis, and fastens them closely together 
by silken threads, and so forms for itself a tunnel, closed at 
the bottom but open at the top, and in this it remains 
feeding, quite concealed, until it is full grown. It is then 
about eight lines in length; colour of the head pale brown in 
front, darker on the crown; a delicate black V-like mark 
springs from the centre of the head and ends on each side 
of the mouth; plate on 2nd segment dark umber-brown, 
pale in front, very glaucous, divided down the centre by a 
milk-white dorsal line; body stout, tapering to each end, 
greenish brown in colour; on each segment are about ten 
black spots, from each of which grows a single hair; legs 
and claspers light green, striped with black. When the 
larve are about to change they spin close silken cocoons in 
their tunnels, and turn to pupe there. In June the imagos 
are on the wing, and may be seen by hundreds at dusk 
flying about the spurge. A portion of the second brood 
appears in autumn, but the greater part of them hybernate 
in the larva state, in cocoons, on their food-plant. In April 
and May the larve are mostly found among the seed-umbels, 
and this is no doubt owing to the rapid growth of the plant 
breaking up their domiciles and forcing them upwards. In 
autumn and winter the larve are easily detected by the 
connate appearance of the tops of the spurge. In some 
seasons the larvae may be found feeding from April to 
November. The spring brood is easily reared: gather the 
infested tops when the larve are nearly full fed, place the 
tops in a glass-covered flower-pot, and leave them until the 
