92 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



when the moth makes its appearance through the weakened 

 part of the reed-stem which 1 have mentioned as previously 

 pre])ared for its exit: the female I'emains w^ith its long pen- 

 dant abdomen parallel to tl)e stem until sought by the male, 

 when union takes place before the femiile has left her birth- 

 place. I am indebted to Mr. Brown, of Cambridge, for the 

 opportnnity of describing this interesting larva. — Rdward 

 Newman. 



Description of the Larva, of Zeuzern JEscxdi (Wood 

 Leopard). — The eggs are laid by the female, remarkable for 

 her long telescopic ovipositor, so well adapted for the pur- 

 pose, in crevices of the bark of trees of a great number of 

 species, on the solid wood of which the larva feeds, and, in 

 the case of younger trees or shoots, before the bark acquires 

 rugosity, just above the cicatrix, whence a leaf of the previous 

 season has lallen. The trees more particularly affected by 

 this beautiful moth are apple, pear, plum, elm and ash : the 

 larva, on emerging, enters the bark and solid wood by an 

 aperture so minute that it can only be detected by a little 

 mass of sawdust-like excrement which generally clings about 

 the entrance. In (he young shoots of ash cultivated for making 

 hop-poles, its })roceedings have been carefully observed by 

 Mr. Jenner, of Lewes, who ascertained that in one plantation 

 alone the loss by its ravages, in' 186-2, exceeded a thousand 

 pounds : this accurate observer found that the little grub, 

 having entered as described, ascends the stem as far as the 

 next cicatrix, the excavation thus made assuming the shape 

 of a very acutely pointed inverted cone ; but when arrived 

 opposite the cicatrix, which is probably accompanied by 

 some node in the interior, it turns round on its own track, 

 and descends to the point whence it started, devouring the 

 wood and widening the gallery in its progress. When the 

 larva has arrived at this point the figure of the gallery has 

 entirely changed ; it is now a smooth cylindrical bore, at the 

 lower extremity of which it gnaws the wood away, making a 

 convenient chamber for its transformation, and having the 

 exterior cuticle reduced to the thinness of tissue paper. It 

 is now full-grown : the head is small, capable of being par- 

 tially withdrawn into the 2nd segment ; the dorsal surface of 

 the 2nd segment has a large, corneous, glabrous, semicircular 

 plate, truncated in front, but convex behind ; the hinder 



