58 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
occasion the tip of the abdomen, while feeling about in this 
manner for a grass-stem, came in contact with one of the insect’s 
legs, and, much to my surprise and amusement, she immediately 
laid an egg on this leg. I brushed off the egg, and it stuck to a 
blade of grass. : 
The ova are canary-yellow in colour when first laid. I did 
not take any note of the ovicular colour changes which preceded 
the emergence of the larve, and although I noted down the date 
of larval emergence, I regret to say that I mislaid this note. I 
cannot say how many days were passed in the egg state.* When 
the larve emerged I was quite at a loss with regard to a food- 
plant, for I was not acquainted with Aira precox, Deschampsia 
cespitosa, D. flexuosa or Nardus stricta, which appeared to be 
the favourite food-plants of this larva. I tried the larve with 
Juncus and with one or two species of grasses growing on the 
commons hereabouts, but none of these was eaten. As a last 
resource I tried some grass growing in the garden, which, by the 
way, was the same on which the ¢ butterfly had oviposited in 
the tumbler. I was very pleased to see the larve commence 
feeding at once on this grass, and this afterwards formed their 
sole food-plant. Idid not at first know what species of grass 
this was, but subsequently I learned from Dr. Chapman that it 
was Poa annua, and this, of course, is mentioned by several 
authorities as a food-plant of H.epiphron. While the larve were 
small I confined them in glass-topped metal boxes, and these 
kept the cut grass fresh for a day or two. As the larve grew in 
size I adopted the rearing methods detailed by Dr. Chapman on 
p. 74 of Pt. II of ‘‘ Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist.” 
I used several tumblers, and placed about six or eight larve in 
each tumbler. On the bottom of each tumbler I put a piece of 
blotting-paper cut to fit exactly, and under the lid I fitted another 
piece of blotting-paper. The lid of the tumbler consisted of the 
glassed-topped lid of a 34-in. metal box. The tumblers were 
cleaned out and the larve given fresh food every alternate day. 
Under this plan the grass kept fresh and the blotting-paper 
absorbed any undue moisture. To change the air in the tumbler 
and prevent it becoming noxious, I took off the lid of the tumbler 
once or twice daily and waved the tumbler backwards and forwards 
in the open air. The larve were all kept under the same con- 
ditions in a small outhouse which had a southerly aspect. The 
door of this outhouse was kept open, and the tumblers containing 
the larve were placed on a shelf just within the door. The larve 
were thus sheltered from the sun’s direct rays and from inclement 
weather, while the temperature would approximate to that of the 
open air. Under these conditions the larve fed up well and 
steadily ; but by mid-August four had outstripped their fellows, 
being much larger and feeding greedily, while the rest were 
* Highteen to twenty days is correct.—G. W. 
