THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 359 



by himself, and these continued to feed for nearly a fortnight 

 longer. The caterpillar when full-grown is nearly an inch 

 long, rather slender, of uniform bulk throughout, rather flat- 

 tened beneath ; head rather large and rounded. There are 

 several varieties in colour and markings, but as all the cap- 

 tured specimens sent to me by Mr. Brown were of one variety, 

 I have, at Mr. Buckler's suggestion, taken this as 



Var.l. — Ground colour a dull olive-green, except the 

 spiracular region, which is pale yellow ; a thin dorsal line of 

 a darker tint of the ground colour ; sometimes there is a 

 similar line on either side of it, and sometimes these lines 

 appear only as two olive-brown or purplish wedges just 

 before each segmental fold ; subdorsal line greenish gray, 

 with darker edgings ; the spiracles are black, and above and 

 just behind them, in the yellow spiracular stripe, are suflfused 

 blotches of the colour of the dorsal wedges. 



Vai\ 2. — Ground colour of a fresher, more yellowish green, 

 with the dorsal region of a full green ; spiracular region yel- 

 lowish, and the blotches in it of darker purplish tint than in 

 No. 1, and more clearly defined in shape. 



Var. S. — Ground colour greenish white; three very fine 

 purplish brown or blackish lines down the back, of which 

 the central one becomes wider and darker just be/ore each 

 segmental fold, and the other two across the ibid ; sometimes 

 these lines are interrupted, and appear only in the thickened 

 parts ; sometimes, again, there is a transverse baud uniting 

 the base of all three of these dashes ; the subdorsal line paler 

 than the ground, but edged below with the dark colour ; the 

 spiracular region of the ground colour, with the wedge-shaped 

 blotches not only above the spiracles as in the other varieties, 

 but also with similar ones below again, and in some speci- 

 mens the spiracular stripe itself interrupted by these pairs of 

 upper and under blotches being partially united. The anal 

 flap and the anal pair of legs dark blackish green or purplish 

 brown. 



Varieties 2 and H were reared from the egg on Erysimum 

 cheiranthoides. The larvae went underground to undergo 

 their final change. — {Rev.) John Hellins ; Exeter. 



Description of the Larva of Noctua plecta. — The eggs 

 were laid in a chip-box and were hatched in June, and the 

 larvae, which fed on Galium verum (lady's bedstravv) and 



