Hypotians^. 51 



the seed-heads of wild carrots as those of Stcmmatopliora 

 corsicalis (^Pyralis ohsoletalis, Mn.), that he collected a 

 number and bred one IT. corticcdis. Milliere evidently 

 made some error, confusing his larvse or his notes, perhaps 

 owing to the similarity of the names. Baron v. Nolcken 

 gives some details on the habits of the larvse, noting how 

 some of them went over a second winter after he took 

 them home (to Oesel in the Baltic). 



These larvse are not uncommon at Cannes in the seed 

 heads of wild carrots, on the dead plants of the previous 

 summer. 



When I first asked M. Constant what these were, and 

 he told me they were those of Hypotia corticalis, I said, 

 "Surely they are some Phycid ?" " Yes," he replied, " they 

 are most remarkably like Phycids ; nevertheless they are II. 

 corticalis." Fearing it might be hopeless to rear them, I 

 did not collect any till last year, when I gathered some in 

 March, and brought them to England. They were of very 

 various sizes, and fed up rather slowly. They seemed very 

 hardy ; I never found a dead one (until quite recently) 

 though I treated them to severe alternations of drought and 

 moisture. A number of moths emerged in August and 

 September, July and August being the proper time of 

 appearance on the Riviera. Baron v. Nolcken appears to 

 have reared only one, which came out in October. Some 

 eight or ten of mine remained as larvse, most nearly full- 

 grown, one or two still small ; these, like a similar portion 

 of Baron v. Nolcken's, obviously not intending to emerge 

 till next Avigiist. Some of these I preserved ; one has 

 since died, the rest seem still (January 1902) active and 

 healthy. 



Tlie larvffi live in the seed- heads of Z^fw^cws, fastening 

 the seeds loosely together, and preventing them falling 

 off", which largely happens in untenanted heads, in spite of 

 the incurving of the umbellules, and the presence of the 

 larvse is often recognizable by this circumstance. A small 

 spider is often a fellow-lodger with the larvse — I fancy 

 accidentally, as I think the larva is not often a victim to 

 the spider, nor except a saving in silk do I see any mutual 

 advantage. When the larva is full-grown, and going 

 into its second winter, it spins a more definite silken tube. 

 Its cocoon for pupation is smaller and more solid than the 

 tube ever is. My larvse always made their nests and 

 cocoons amongst the seed-heads. Baron v. Nolcken says 



