588 Notes in 1887 upon lepidopterous larve, ce. 
Nate I. The 6 lightest and Il. The 4 interme- III. The 6 darkest 
nn bluest larve. diate larvee. and yellowest larvae. 
Oct. 4th | .eseee sevesevcevecesne 10.20 p.m. 1 larva has | 10.15 p.m. 1 larva has 
darkened beneath the| just changed skin: a 
old skin, and is there- | dark variety. 
fore almost ready for 
ecdysis. 
Oct. 5th | 11.50 a.m. 1 has just|9a.m. All4larvehave|9 am. No further 
Oct. 7th | 6. 
changed skin. changed their skins} change. 
some little time: the 
last to change is a 
light variety. 
OD Dit, CMe TST TWO.) Vb edanles ed os ones Ve ane 6.35 p.m. 2 more had 
larve have changed changed skin, 1 some 
their sking some time, time and dark, 1 re- 
and are both dark cently and light, al- 
varieties. though the darkest of 
the 3 light varieties 
obtained. The 6th 
larva did not change 
On the evening of Oct. 5th many of these larve, at 
the beginning of Stage IV., including examples of all 
the varieties, and the one from division III., which had 
not yet entered the resting-period, were shown at the 
meeting of the Entomological Society of London. 
There were some indications that the slow growth of 
this last larva, which fell so far behind the others, was 
due to weakness and ill-health, which indeed is the 
rule in larve. On one oceasion (Oct. 4th) I saw that 
it had some difficulty in getting rid of the excreta 
during defecation; it turned round and pulled the 
mass off with its mandibles. 
It is interesting to note that the larve darken to 
a considerable extent just before changing the skin; in 
certain other cases (¢.g. dark lepidopterous pupe, the 
black head of the larval Crasus septentrionalis, &c.), the 
dark parts are white’or pale yellow, until after exposure 
to the air for some few hours. Certain observations 
made at the beginning of the last stage render it 
probable that the air gains access to the new cuticle 
shortly before eedysis. The old cuticle is probably at 
this time dry, and not sufticiently continuous or dense 
to exclude the presence of air. 
Stage IV.—On Oct. 8th, all the larve were carefully 
its skin until Oct. 12. 
