A CATALOGUE OF THE LEPIDOPTERA OF IRELAND. 329 



nearly globular, but somewhat flattened equatorially, and has a 

 depression at the apex. Under the microscope it is seen to be 

 covered with minute pittings, like the top of a thimble, arranged 

 in lines radiating from the apex. The larvae are discernible 

 within the pellicle on or about the eleventh day, and emerge the 

 following. I placed some eggs in a flower of Silene maritima, on 

 which the young larvae, when hatched, crawled about. Two 

 were then removed to a leaf, upon which they crawled down to 

 the axil and commenced to burrow into the joints. It is un- 

 necessary to supplement Mr. Buckler's description further, 

 except to say that I noticed that if a larva exhausts a rootlet, 

 and is short of food, it will rise to the surface of the earth, 

 wander among the foliage, and feed upon the shoots where they 

 enter the earth until it has found a new supply of root-provender. 

 When disturbed (which is only injurious in the very early stage), 

 it will curl its head round to the tail, and jerk itself from side to 

 side. According to the abundance of food the larvse mature irregu- 

 larly. For instance, on Sept. 23rd I had three pupae and six larvae 

 of uneven sizes, and on October 3rd three larvae were still left. 

 The pupa is of paler yellow than that of D. capsophila, and pro- 

 portionally is larger and stouter in the thoracic half ; but the 

 abdomen is somewhat more elongated, and the segments more 

 deeply divided, terminating in a forked spike. The wing-cases, 

 legs, and antennae form at their extremity a projection which is 

 quite free from the abdomen, which appears to be a character 

 common to the Dianthceciae, but is more salient in this species 

 than in any I have knowledge of. Pupation often takes place 

 close to the food-plant, but sometimes the larva wanders about 

 for a while, and then pupates close to the surface. Usually the 

 adjacent particles of earth are connected together by a very 

 shght film of threads, but sometimes no definite cocoon is 

 formed. In D. capsophila similar habits obtain, but the cocoon 

 is much more firmly bound together. The moth often is very 

 active and fidgety on emergence, and the wings expand in about 

 fifteen minutes, and are at first of a purplish tinge on the 

 blacker portions, which fades after. That it is an isolated 

 maritime form of D. luteago I am now quite convinced, though 

 no trace of the bright ochreous colour of the type has been pre- 

 served. In one example, however, on emergence, a faint yellowish 

 tinge was noticeable, especially in the claviform stigma, which 

 faded in a few weeks. Graslin found the larva of the type 

 feeding in the stems and roots of Silene injiata, and he describes 

 it as constructing a cocoon of earth fastened together. There is 

 a variety argillacea from the Ural and S. Pontus, "viel dunkler" 

 {Hoffmann), " multo obscurior," Stgr., which I have not seen. 

 I), luteago is found rarely in S. Germany, and also occurs in 

 Switzerland, S. Russia, Italy, and Corsica. It is very rare in 

 France, Paris, Montpellier, Hyeres, Indre, Saone-and-Loire 



