OPHIODES OR PSEUDOPHIA LUNARIS. 177 



lighthouse at Lowestoft ; two at West Wickham Wood ; one at 

 Abbotts Wood, Brighton, Stratton Strawless, and Perth ; while 

 two were taken at Killarney by the late Peter Bouchard ; 

 the most recent one, in Cheshire, at Delamere on June ist, 

 1901. 



The moth appears in May and June, and even in April in 

 confinement, two specimens having emerged in my breeding 

 case in April, 1905. 



The egg is laid on oak or poplar. When fresh laid it is of a 

 beautiful green colour, ornamented with 14 white ribs in relief, 

 connected by fine horizontal white lines. It is one millimetre in 

 length by two-thirds of a millimetre in height. After about a 

 week the colour changes to a rich red or plum tint, while whitish 

 spots appear in irregular positions. 



At the end of the second week the red colour has all passed 

 away, giving place to a drab tint over the lower two-thirds, while 

 the upper one-third has become purple edged with orange, a 

 band of a similar colour edged with orange, and tapering to a 

 point crossing the lower part of the egg. The egg is now 

 translucent, and the markings just described indicate the curled- 

 up larva indistinctly. 



The young larva when hatched, on June 6th, is very lively and 

 active, about 4 mm. in length, and appears as if wet or varnished. 

 Colour, greyish-yellow ; a double row of dark brown spots along 

 the back; and two similar rows of spots along the sides arranged 

 in oblique pairs. The back of the head is whitish, and there are 

 two dark brown lines, one on each side, which meet at the 

 mouth. There are apparently only two pairs of ventral claspers 

 which are effective, and these are dark brown and long, and 

 protrude sideways like "splay feet," giving a peculiar appear- 

 ance. A dark hair protrudes from each spot on the back and 

 sides. The larva feeds freely on oak, and when at rest has a 

 remarkably snake-like attitude. 



By June i ith the spots along the back and sides have amalga- 

 mated into brown lines, which are continuous from the cheeks 

 to the end of the anal claspers. 



