86 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



were somewhat larger, and as they appeared to be only a further 

 development of the same stage, one description will suffice. 

 Length, 8 mm., or ten thirty-seconds of an inch. The natural 

 colour of the body is a peculiarly transparent glossy white, and 

 the texture of the skin reminds one more of a beetle-grub than 

 of a lepidopterous larva. There are no markings on the body. 

 Head and legs also of the same transparent white. On either 

 side of the head is a group of six dark-coloured spots (ocelli), i. e., 

 an upper series of four and a lower series of two spots. Very 

 fine hairs scattered over body and head (visible only under 

 pocket-lens). Owing to the transparency of the skin, however, 

 the actual colour of the body is determined by the food that is 

 passing through the larva. If feeding on the leaves, the anterior 

 segments appear pale green; if on the flower-petals, reddish 

 yellow ; if on the seeds, opaque white. The posterior segments 

 are darker in colour, the effect of the digested food, and on 

 looking at the larva against the light at least two separate 

 pieces of frass are clearly discernible close to the anal extremity. 

 A varied diet gives to the larva a somewhat striking appearance, 

 and several, in confinement, where a variety of food was within 

 their reach, exhibited a range of four distinct colours — the first 

 IDortion of the body opaque white (seed) ; the next, yellow (petal) ; 

 the next, green (leaf) ; the remainder, black (frass). The order 

 of the colours varied according to the taste of the larva, and 

 although this sort of thing would not happen in a state of 

 nature, being simply the result of having the different kinds of 

 food mixed up in the tin in which the larvae were kept, still it 

 is an interesting illustration of the lack of natural colouring 

 pigment in the skin. 



The largest larva, taken on the same day, August 20th, was 

 13 mm. or seventeen thirty-seconds of an inch in length. (This 

 is the stage succeeding that already described.) Head and legs 

 pale brown. Group of dark spots on head as before. General 

 colour of body pale green. No trace of a medio-dorsal line. 

 A faint white subdorsal line. Spiracles white and joined by 

 a faint, hair-like white line. The incisions of the segments are 

 white. Fine short hairs protrude from small black warts, dis- 

 tributed sparsely but regularly over the body. The spots on the 

 head also each emit a dark hair. 



The full-grown larva (described September 7th, 1905) is 

 25 mm., or one inch in length. Head and legs pale brownish 

 green. The groups of spots on the head now show prominently 

 and are quite visible without the aid of a lens. The body is 

 thickest at the eleventh segment and tapers towards the head, 

 which is narrow and flat. Natural colour of body pale trans- 

 parent green and the skin not now glossy. There is an inter- 

 rupted dull red medio-dorsal line, somewhat irregular in out- 

 line. This, starting behind the head, continues unbroken to the 



