104 LECAN1UM BITUBEECULATUM. 



from Bearsted, Kent (Green), and Stratford-on-Avon 

 (Hodges). 



The species is undoubtedly very local, and although 

 I have searched for it in many parts of Cheshire, and 

 in suitable spots in Yorkshire and the Western 

 Hebrides, I have failed to find it there. 



Distribution. Common in Southern Europe. Signoret 

 received it from Targioni-Tozzetti, and records it as 

 plentiful at Florence, Cannes, and Hyeres. Dr. Sulc 

 has also found it in Bohemia ; and it very probably 

 awaits the hunter in other parts of the Continent. 



Habits. -The female lays her eggs about the first 

 week in October, and protects them throughout the 

 winter and early spring under her body. The larvae 

 hatch in May, and both sexes take up their quarters on 

 the leaves of the hawthorn (very few female larvse fix 

 themselves upon the branches), where they remain 

 until the period of fecundation. The males appear 

 during the month of July (23rd July, 1895; 6th July, 

 1896). After fecundation the females descend to the 

 branches, and there remain fixed for the rest of their 

 lives. Moulting takes place soon after migration. In 

 August the females assume very much the colour of the 

 bark, and are then broadly ovate and very flat. The 

 most remarkable trait in this species is the minute size 

 of the female at the period of fecundation. In all 

 other species of Lecanium known to me, fecundation 

 takes place when the female has attained the maximum 

 size, and is then enormous compared with the size of 

 the male. Another remarkable character is that the 

 adult females retain all their beautiful bright colours 

 and the white markings all through the winter, and the 

 colours do not fade in cabinet specimens for several 

 years, provided that they are taken in the early part of 

 the winter. All the other British species lose their 

 bright colours at the period of parturition. 



