24 



neighbourhood just at the time when the chief emergence of the 

 females was taking place. But two or three wild moths that were 

 kept deposited freely in pill-boxes. I have already mentioned that 

 the eggs are laid in batches ; the first deposited is usually the largest 

 in point of numbers, and contains approximately 150 to 200 eggs, 

 while the last will often not number more than from 20 to 30, the 

 total produced by a single moth probably aggregating somewhere 

 about 500 to 600 eggs. They are deposited, as is, I believe, the 

 case with most of the Tortrices, in more or less regular rows, the one 

 overlapping the other, very like the scales of a fish (see Plate I, 

 fig. 7). They are oval in shape, plump in the middle, and very 

 thin at the edges, very pod-like in appearance, much suggesting the 

 shape that would be obtained by placing a piece of cotton wool 

 between two oval pieces of tissue paper and gumming their edges 

 together. 



The shell, or perhaps skin would be a better description, is soft 

 and fairly transparent, and is sculptured with an irregular pattern 

 much resembling the graining of Morocco leather. The change in 

 colour, already mentioned, from the brilliant green of the freshly 

 deposited ova to a dull greenish-yellow is, of course, caused by the 

 development of the embryo within the egg being seen through the 

 thin egg-shell.* It takes place very gradually, and during its pro- 

 gress, if the eggs are viewed under a high-power lens, it will be seen 

 that little portions of the green colour remain, especially about the 

 edges, until development is far advanced. The final darkening of 

 the eggs just before hatching is the result of the formation of the 

 black larval heads ; first the eyes appear causing a slight darkening 

 (see Plate III, fig. 1), the head then gradually becomes shining 

 black ; the combination of the numbers of these black heads and 

 the yellow bodies seen through the semi-transparent skins of the 

 eggs gives the whole egg-patch the deep purplish-grey appearance 

 already referred to. The fully formed larva within the egg is curled 

 up horse-shoe fashion with head and tail together (Plate III, fig. 2). 

 When it is ready to come forth it presses its mouth against the thin 

 skin of the egg, and repeatedly opens its jaws to their full extent and 

 then closes them. As this process goes on the egg-skin is seen to 

 give under the pressure exerted, until at last the sharp points of the 

 mandibles pierce it. Owing to their shape this piercing takes place 

 just when the jaws are opened to their full extent, and the closing 

 cuts a slit in the egg-skin. The larva then seizes the egg-skin at the 

 side of the slit in its mouth, and pulls violently at it until it tears a 

 hole large enough to force the front part of its head out. It then 

 rests for a few seconds, apparently being overcome by its exertions. 

 Having recovered its strength it forces its head through the hole, 

 rending it still further in doing so ; the body is now drawn through, 

 and the young larva at once crawls rapidly away in search of a suit- 



* See " Tutt's British Lepidoptera," vol. i, p. 20. 



