50 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



one row overlapping another, very like the scales of a fish. They 

 are deposited on the upper side of the leaves of the food-plant, 

 and when quite fresh are brilliant green in colour, but gradually 

 change to a dull greenish yellow, and finally to a dark purplish grey 

 just before hatching, this last change in colour being caused by 

 the black heads and dull yellowish bodies of the fully formed 

 larvae being seen through the parchment- like skins of the eggs. 

 The larva within the egg is curled up horseshoe-wise, and when 

 ready to come forth it repeatedly opens and shuts its mouth, 

 pressing it the while against the egg-skin until it is pierced ; it 

 then seizes the fractured skin in its jaws and tears the hole 

 large enough to admit of its head being forced through, and its 

 escape is thus permitted. 



On July 19th the first laid batch of eggs, being evidently on 

 the point of hatching, was placed on a growing plant of Euony- 

 tmis japonicus that had been potted up for the purpose, and an 

 inspection later in the day showed that the larvje had come 

 forth and had disappeared ; no trace of them whatever could be 

 found. On the following day two other batches of eggs that had 

 assumed the final colour were put into a breeding-cage on cut 

 shoots of the food-plant, but with little better success, as when 

 next looked at, young larvae were seen to be swarming through 

 even the smallest crevices and running away at a great pace, and 

 the majority of this lot also was lost. Evidently the newly- 

 hatched larvae had a roaming instinct that had to be reckoned 

 with. Only two very small batches of the eggs were now left, 

 and these were put into a glass cylinder with freshly cut shoots 

 of Euonymus, and so secured that escape was impossible ; and 

 within a few days it was found that the larvae had emerged from 

 the eggs, and settled themselves between the leaves to feed. 



The larva on leaving the egg measures just under 2 mm. in 

 length, is dirty yellow in colour, with numerous stiff whitish 

 hairs disposed over its body, and has a shining jet-black head. 

 It is exceedingly active, travelling rapidly, and for a long dis- 

 tance before settling down to feed. This wandering propensity, 

 which I assume is common to the majority of the Tortrices, 

 appears to be a necessary habit. The eggs are laid in masses, 

 but the larvae are solitary feeders, more than one seldom being 

 found on the same shoot of the food-plant. A rapid dispersal 

 over a considerable area, in order that they may find suitable 

 positions in which to commence their isolated existence, is there- 

 fore essential to their well being, and this, the power they possess 

 of rapid and sustained movement immediately after leaving the 

 egg, enables them to effect. So soon as a larva finds a suitable 

 position, such as two leaves in close proximity, it spins a few 

 threads of silk between them, thus securing itself, and com- 

 mences to feed. One of the larvae that I had in the glass cylinder 

 very obligingly fixed itself up between the back of a leaf of the 



