270 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
no opportunity of watching it for themselves. Its peculiar 
form has been carefully described by Mr. Newman, and so 
often figures in groups of caterpillars that any description of 
mine would be superfluous. 
About a score of eggs were laid by a worn female taken at 
sugar; one of the young larve was given to me. It was very 
small and very miserable looking when it came into my 
hands; it had ceased eating previous to moulting. In two 
days, that is, by the 21st of August, the mask fell from the 
face, and then it began the hard task of extricating itself 
from its old skin. The operation lasted about half an hour, 
the larva stopping every. now and then for a few minutes’ 
rest before resuming its struggles. I had never before had 
an opportunity of seeing this species moulting, and as it had 
used its long legs just before in walking (though certainly 
with very little vigour) I was not prepared to see them cast 
with the old skin; but soon two new pairs were perceived 
doubled up against the sides of the larva; and this avcounts 
for the great difficulty Fagi found in freeing itself, as the 
comparative stiffness of the legs prevented its working back- 
wards and forwards, after the wriggling fashion of other 
larve. The legs did not all get free tll the skin had been 
pushed back to the 6th segment, and then even the flattened 
tail made its way out with comparative ease. It next 
proceeded to devour the cast skin, all but the head—which 
was either too tough, or else was not worth seeking, as it had 
fallen to the bottom of the cage—and one leg; these were 
the only relics of the grand struggle. 
After a day’s rest it began to eat beech, oak, and a little 
birch. I sketched it in its various stages, and observed that 
the two caudal horns are not alike in colour, one being rust- 
red and the other metallic-blue; this was more noticeable as 
the larva increased in size. It ate sometimes during the 
day, but was more often at rest, with the body curved round, 
so that the last segment touched the Ist, the long legs folded 
one over the other, and holding on to the twig by the four 
pairs of claspers. On Thursday, the 3lst, it ceased eating ; 
and by Sunday morning had again changed its skin. 
After a few hours’ rest Fagi seemed a different creature ; 
began to feed with a voracity which I have seen in no other 
larva,—not even in Chelonia caja. All day long it was 
