22 



leaving the egg that enables them to distribute themselves over a 

 sufficiently large area to attain this object. 



There were now only two very small batches of ova left, and in 

 the hope of making suitable provision for the wants of the young 

 larvae when they should come forth, even though I might not be 

 able to give them room to exercise their roving propensities to the 

 full, I cut a number of fresh young sprigs of Euonymus and 

 packed them tightly into a small glass jar, the stalks protruding 

 through the smaller end into a bottle of water, put the ova on the 

 food-plant, and covered the top of the jar with a piece of stout 

 calico secured by an india-rubber ring. This was on the morning 

 of July 21st ; and within a few days I had the satisfaction of seeing 

 that the larvae had taken to their quarters and were feeding quietly,, 

 and that two or three of them had fixed themselves between the back 

 of a leaf and the glass, thus admitting of frequent observation. 



The young larvae on leaving the eggs measured barely 2 mm. in 

 length, were dull yellow in colour with shining black heads, and 

 with numerous whitish hairs distributed over their bodies. On or 

 about August 7th they moulted for the first time, their colour 

 became greenish yellow, their heads brownish, and their length had 

 increased to \\ mm. By the iSth they appeared to have moulted 

 again, had changed to a pale green colour, and measured 7 mm. in 

 length. Up to this time the food on which they were originally 

 placed had kept sufficiently fresh, and the larvae had remained 

 undisturbed ; but it now became necessary to transfer them to fresh 

 food, on which they all took up positions where they were out of 

 sight, and it was not until September 16th that another thorough 

 examination was made. It was then found that they had grown 

 irregularly, some apparently not being more than half grown, while 

 some few others had evidently reached their full growth, and two 

 had become pupae (see p. 26). 



The first moth emerged on September 18th, the time occupied in 

 passing through all the stages from the egg-laying to the appearance 

 of the perfect insect being just seventy days. The majority had 

 pupated by the beginning of October, and in due time produced 

 imagines ; but some few, although brought indoors when the 

 weather showed signs of becoming cold, continued to feed slowly, 

 and it appears that they are likely to pass the winter as full-fed 

 larvae.* 



The Autumn Brood.- — During September I had the opportunity 

 of again meeting with the species in its wild state ; both larvae and 

 pupae were found, many, as in spring, were in single leaves whose 

 edges were drawn together ; others, especially those that had pupated, 

 had ensconced themselves between a growing leaf and a piece of a 

 dead one, or between pieces of dead leaves, evidently left by some 

 former clipping of the hedges, while it was rarely that either a larva 



* For description of pupa and imago, see Proc, 1906-7, pp. i5> 16. 



