THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XXXVIII] MARCH, 1905. [No. 502. 



CRYPTIC FORM and COLOURING in MELITMA LARV^. 

 By T. a. Chapman, M.D. 



The larvae of Melitcea cinxia and M. athalia when full grown 

 are usually very conspicuous, still it has often struck me that, 

 obvious as they are when you look for them — i. e. if they are 

 not hidden away — you may easily pass by without seeing them, 

 even though looking where they are, if not thinking of them. 

 These larvae considerably resemble the heads of Plantago ; but 

 this is still more the case with MeliUea didi/ma, whose yellow 

 and brown markings make it very like a plantain-head with 

 yellow stamens and brown scales. 



This resemblance is brought out very well in the above 

 reproduction of a photograph taken by Mr. H. Main of a larva 

 of M. didyma — remarkably so since the assistance given by 

 coloration is left out. 



ENTOM. — MAKCH, 1905. G 



