THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XXVIIL] OCTOBEE, 189 5. [No. 389. 



OBSERVATIONS ON PLUSIA MONET A. 

 By J. C. RicKAKD. 



In the early part of September, 1890, I found a specimen of 

 this moth on a brick-wall (near a street lamp) in a central part 

 of the town ; since that time I saw no more of the species until 

 May 28th of the present year, when I found one larva and three 

 pupfe, on the following day three more pupae, and on June 3rd 

 another larva just beginning to spin up ; seven moths emerged 

 from these on the following dates : June 8th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 

 19th, 24th, and 29th ; the eighth pupa dried up. On June 29th 

 I netted one specimen, one on the 30th, and another on July 

 10th. I placed the one taken on June 30th with some monks- 

 hood under a glass shade, where it lived for about a week, during 

 which time it deposited a number of ova, either singly or in 

 groups of three or four; between thirty and forty of these 

 hatched on July 11th, and were supplied with fresh food from 

 time to time. Not seeing anything of the young larvae, I made 

 a minute search, with the result of finding five or six very small 

 larvae, one about a quarter and one about half an inch in length ; 

 the two larger were "oil-green" in colour, with numerous black 

 spots (see ante, p. 257), superficially resembling the larva of a 

 sawfly of the genus Nematus more than any larva I am ac- 

 quainted with. On August 4th the largest one had formed a 

 slight web of whitish silk between two portions of a leaf in which 

 to undergo its last moult ; on the 9th I noticed it was feeding 

 again, but at this stage its colour was bright yellowish-green, 

 with indistinct whitish spiracular lines, and without a trace of 

 the black spots ; at all stages of growth the larva had a con- 

 siderable number of scattered hairs. On the 11th it commenced 

 to spin, and the imago emerged on the 29th ; thus passing five 

 to ten days as ova, thirty-two days as larva, and eighteen days 

 as pupa. 



ENTOM, — OCT. 1895. Z 



