the Life History of Agriades escheri. 415 



at a temperature of about 34° to 39°. Observing these and 

 other larvae during the past winter, I have arrived at the 

 opinion that the mortahty amongst hibernating Lycaenid 

 larvae under my care, or want of care, has been chiefly 

 due to letting them get too dry. When made sufficiently 

 damp afterwards they become mouldy, and one concludes 

 they died from being too damp, and so one's procedure is 

 corrected in the wrong direction. The correct way is to 

 look them over carefully every two or three weeks and see 

 that they are just right. The disturbance may not be 

 good for them, but it is a much less evil than their getting 

 either too damp, or, in an effort to avoid this, too dry. 



On Feb. 8th, 1915, I brought thirteen larvae into a warm 

 room ; not till the 24th did they begin to eat, when one small 

 mine was seen in a leaf of Astragalus. Of these thirteen 

 larva ten were put on a growing plant on Feb. 28th. 



On March 9th, of the three kept in tins, two are eating 

 a little of a young Astragalus leaf. 



March 13th. — One (No. 1) of the three has moulted this 

 morning (into 4th instar) without having grown at all or 

 eaten more than a very trifling meal. 



March 18th. — No. 2 moulted this morning. No. 1 is 

 eating but very moderately. 



March 20th. — The larvae in 4th instar are in several 

 instances, as noted two days ago, green, with dorsal and 

 lateral stripes almost yellowish ; but one at least is quite 

 dark, of much the aspect of the darkest of those in 3rd 

 (hibernating) instar. 



No. 1, 7 mm. long, green, with narrow yellow lateral line, 

 dorsal lines (flanges) a little paler but not yellow, has obUque 

 dark band on each segment, half-way up slope, bordered 

 above and below by paler green ; medio-dorsal line is also 

 rather dark, dorsal outline (seen laterally) a little serrated, 

 each segment rather higher at its posterior than anterior 

 margin. 



No. 2 is a darker larva, so that the dorsal flange lines 

 seem to be yellowish, and the obhque lateral lines are rein- 

 forced by (1) a slight depression at posterior margin of each 

 segment of the dorsal flange lines, (2) and (3) the yellowish 

 lines above and below darker central slope line, (4) a yellow- 

 ish patch, slightly oblique near spiracles; the yellow lateral 

 line is not at all obhque. 



March 30th. — No. 3 has moulted for third time. 



March 31st. — The larvae in 4th instar, so far as may be 



