26 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



There can be no doubt but that the imago has a strong 

 penchant for oak. Barrett, ' Lep. of Brit. Isles,' xi, p. 249, 

 writes of it : " The moth fiies in a very lively manner over small 

 oak and other trees, and oak bushes, in the late afternoon and 

 early evening," and this is the common experience of everyone 

 I have spoken to about it. 



In early June, 1915, I became aware that L. permixtaua was 

 abundant in a portion of Limpsfield Chart, the undergrowth 

 in which had been recently cut down. This growth consisted 

 solely of oak and birch, the ground underneath being covered 

 with bilberry and Calluna vulgaris. The moths seemed almost 

 entirely to frequent the oak bushes, which were two to three feet 

 high. It was not until 1917 that I thought of capturing females 

 to see if I could get ova ; in this year I did not have any 

 success. The following summer, June 4th, from some further 

 captured females I did succeed in obtaining a few ova, which 

 were deposited on an oak leaf, chiefly on the upper side, but 

 there were a few on the underside. 



The ovum is very large for the size of the moth, being about 

 '5 mm. by '4 mm., in shape oval, horizontal, of course. The 

 colour is greyish-green, somewhat opalescent, surface glabrous 

 but rough, and very thickly pitted over with very small sinkings 

 of irregular shape. A nucleus is distinctly visible, which is some- 

 what darker in tint than the surrounding envelope ; this nucleus 

 represents about 80 per cent, of the area of the ovum. On June 

 12th the larva was distinctly visible, it was curled round in the 

 ovum, and was light greyish-green in colour, with a black head. 



The larva only emerged from one of the ova ; this took place 

 on June 13th. It was then about *2 mm. long, whitish-green in 

 colour, the head was glabrous, and dark fuscous ; the prothorax 

 was whitish-green with a dark fuscous line at the rear, and in 

 the centre of the dorsum ; the larva was very spiny. 



I supplied it with three oak leaves, and an oak bud, as I had 

 an impression that it fed naturally in the bud ; it also had a birch 

 leaf to choose from. The oak leaves were placed one upon the 

 other — an arrangement I find very much to the liking of leaf- 

 eating Tortrix larvae ; it immediately commenced to feed upon 

 them, spinning together a portion of two of the leaves which lay 

 closely one upon the other. 



On June 26th the second instar was reached. The larva was 

 then 2'50 mm. long ; the head and jjrothorax were amber-coloured ; 

 both were glabrous. The segments behind the prothorax were 

 dark greyish-green in the dorsal, and light grey in the spiracular 

 areas ; the larva was very transparent. It lived between two 

 leaves, feeding upon the lower cuticle of the upper one. 



On July 7th the larva was in the third instar ; it was now 

 5 mm. long, slender, the head was amber-coloured with dark 

 brown shading around jaws, glabrous and transparent ; at the 



