21 



and Batodes angustoriana, the first and last named predominating 

 in point of numbers. 



A Life-History. — On June 28th two males and a female, 

 T. pronubana, were reared, and on the evening of that day one of 

 the former and the latter were removed from the breeding-cage into 

 a glass cylinder containing a sprig of freshly cut Euonymus, and 

 placed in a position that would catch the early morning sunshine. 

 Fortunately the 29th was one of the few days in June on which the 

 sun shone brightly from the time of its rising, and on looking at the 

 moths at 7.15 a.m. I found them paired. I was unable to visit 

 them again until 10.30 p.m., when it was found that they had 

 separated ; the female was sitting in apparently the same position as 

 in the morning, on the upper side of a leaf with her head near its 

 apex, and the edge of a batch of ova was just discernible beneath 

 her wings. Others were deposited on July 2nd, 4th, and 10th, each 

 batch smaller in size than its predecessor, and each on a separate 

 leaf, but in a similar position on its leaf to the first one ; on the 

 14th the moth died. 



The eggs, when newly deposited, were brilliant green in colour, 

 harmonising fairly well with the freshly developed Euonymus leaves 

 when laid on them, but in strong contrast with the older dark green 

 leaves, on which most of them were laid. After a few days the 

 colour began to change, and gradually became a dull greenish- 

 yellow, which was maintained until within a couple of days of 

 hatching, when a further change took place, ultimately becoming a 

 deep purplish-grey just before hatching took place. 



On the morning of July 19th I placed the first laid batch of eggs 

 on a small plant of Euonymus that had been potted up for the 

 purpose, and on examining them in the evening I found that they 

 had hatched during the day, but no trace of the young larvae could 

 be found, and it became very evident that for some reason they had 

 all disappeared. On the morning of the following day other eggs 

 that appeared to be on the point of hatching were put into a small 

 cage with freshly-cut shoots of the food plant, and on looking at 

 them at about 3 p.m. I found that they also had hatched, and the 

 larva? were swarming through the tiny crevices of the cage, and 

 running away at a great pace. It became very evident that this 

 wandering propensity was a fixed habit of the species that had to be 

 reckoned with, and its object was not far to seek. It will be noted 

 that the eggs are laid in masses consisting of a large number of 

 individuals, but the larvas are of solitary habit, seldom more than 

 one being found on the same shoot of the food-plant, and, more- 

 over, when young they need some place suitable to their method of 

 feeding in which to establish themselves, such as where two leaves 

 are close enough together to allow of the tiny larva spinning the first 

 few silken threads, by which it makes itself secure, between them ; 

 and it is this power of rapid movement possessed by the larvae on 



