356 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



body is dilated in front to receive the head ; the body is 

 otherwise ahnost uniformly cylindrical ; it is wrinkled trans- 

 versely, has an interrupted lateral skinfold, and is garnished 

 with sprinkled bristles. The colour of the head is pale semi- 

 pellucid brown, irrorated with black dots, most of which are 

 arranged in an ill-defined stripe on the middle of each cheek : 

 the colour of the body is gray-brown, with numerous black 

 dots, which form very irregular and interrupted rivulet lines 

 down the back ; there are also six series of small blotches, of 

 a rich mahogany-brown, like the nut of the horse-chestnut 

 when recently exposed; two of these are dorsal, one (on 

 each side) lateral, and two ventral ; there are also on the 

 ventral area, between each pair of chestnut blotches, two 

 closely approximate black streaks ; these streaks are con- 

 nected in double pairs, thus forming two interrupted approxi- 

 mate ventral series ; the legs are pale pellucid brown, 

 sprinkled with black dots ; the ventral claspers are gray 

 dotted with black, the anal claspers of the same colour, with 

 a whitish exterior streak. This larva feeds on Calluna vul- 

 garis (the common ling). I am indebted to Mr. AVellraan 

 for a liberal supply of these larvae, which were full-fed the 

 second week in October. — Edward Newman. 



Descri'ption of the Larva of Melanthia ocellata. — The 

 eggs are laid on lady's bedstraw (Galium verum), in June, 

 and the larva is full-fed by the middle of July, when it rests 

 in a somewhat bent position on its food-plant ; the head is 

 porrected, the back slightly arched, and the legs directed 

 forwards ', on being annoyed the head is altered into a prone 

 position and bent under, the back increasingly arched, and 

 the caterpillar falls to the ground as though lifeless, and fre- 

 quently remains as much as an hour perfectly motionless : 

 the head is about the same width as the 2nd segment, 

 perhaps rather narrowei*, and there is no apparent notch on 

 the crown ; the body is almost uniformly cylindrical, but 

 slightly increases in size towards the anal extremity ; it is 

 wrinkled transversely, and has numerous small warts, each of 

 which is surmounted by a bristle. The colour of the head 

 and body is yellowish brown, with a slight tinge of olive- 

 green ; the head has three parallel longitudinal stripes almost 

 white, and the spaces between them are dotted with darker 

 brown ; the body has numerous and very distinct white 



