NOTES ON REARING EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA. 31 



up, was how to feed them. I had no Celtis of any species ; and 

 on a visit to Kew Gardens I found that the Celtis of all species 

 could not break into leaf for about a fortnight. Some branches 

 of an American maple with small foliage, grown under glass, 

 were then given to me, and I tried this as a substitute, with 

 twigs of other trees just coming out into foliage in the open air, 

 such as elm, hornbeam, &c. Although the larvae did eat a little, 

 their progress seemed very slow ; and a nomber of them died or 

 escaped from under the glass which covered them. At last 

 I obtained, from the magnificent nursery grounds of Mrs. 

 Veitch & Sons, near Coombe Wood, five little trees of Celtis 

 orientalis, which were all put for me into one pot. After care- 

 fully examining all the leaves on which the little larvae had been 

 placed, I only found two alive and in good condition. These 

 were at once placed on the buds of the Celtis, which were just 

 beginning to break, and from that time I had no more trouble 

 with the larvae ; they never moved from the buds or leaves, 

 to which they were firmly fixed with a few silk threads, always 

 on the under surface of the leaves. I could not observe them 

 except at the risk of injuring them, so I left them undisturbed ; 

 they seemed to eat only at night-time. It was only when the 

 larvae had reached their last stage that they could more easily be 

 observed ; they could then be seen eating in the daytime, but not 

 so much as at night-time. Just about the time of this trans- 

 formation (and this will give an idea of the size of the twigs 

 which I called trees) all the foliage had disappeared, excepting a 

 few leaves. I was then uneasy about the larvae, when the first 

 larva began its transformation on the 3rd of July, turning into a 

 beautiful light green pupa on the 5th. The larva, when full 

 grown, is about two inches in length. The transformation of the 

 second larva commenced on the 8th of July, lasting the same 

 time as the first. The first butterfly emerged on the 25th of 

 July, and the second on the 31st. The following is the rough 

 description of the larva in its last stage : — Body apparently 

 green, but all covered with small yellow spots; slug-shaped, with 

 bifid tail, like Apatura iris ; face white ; horns yellow at top, and 

 light yellow on the sides ; two white longitudinal stripes on the 

 back, separated by a dark green line extending from the head to 

 the tail ; two other light yellow lines on the sides. Both butter- 

 flies happened to be females, which are deprived of the bright 



