46 



three cocoons on April i6th of this year and found the larvae had 

 again assumed the pale yellow tint, and that all the spots had 

 vanished. 



The moths make their appearance in May and early June. These 

 lay eggs which produce larvae, which feed through July and give rise 

 to the moths which appear in August, the parents of the September 

 larvae. 



The interesting colour-changes which the larva goes through are 

 probably of protective value. Red is usually considered a warning 

 colour, and the crimson spots, which appear when this larva is 

 about to wander about in the open, may help to protect it against 

 attack, while the orange band on the young larva may help to dis- 

 guise its real nature. 



I doubt whether the larva in the first stage can change from one 

 leaf to another. It is able to do so in the second stage, but I 

 believe that, as a rule, it remains in the same leaf until well into the 

 third stage at least. The larva remains in the same leaf as long as 

 it can, but many of the leaves on which eggs are laid are very small, 

 and occasionally when the larva mines too near the stalk of larger 

 leaves it cuts off the flow of sap, and the leaf begins to wither ; then 

 the larva has to leave it. I have many times watched the larvje of 

 this species, and also those of C. stipella, entering new leaves. The 

 process is the same in both instances. The larva crawls generally 

 on the underside of the leaf, and having selected the point at which 

 to enter the leaf, it spins a number of short threads of silk just in 

 front of the spot. It then grasps the threads with the thoracic legs, 

 and turning its head upwards bites a slit in the cuticle of the leaf 

 and commences to feed on the parenchyma. As the head gets more 

 bent under the larva the metalhorax is forced up, and, being anchored 

 by the silk, lifts up the partly severed cuticle and prevents it being 

 torn by the pro- and meso-thorax as they enter the leaf, or, at any 

 rate, keeps the lower margin of the slit clear of these segments. As 

 further progress is made the body is also raised from the leaf surface, 

 but the anal claspers are still attached to the leaf. By this time the 

 mine is deeper, and the metathorax, freed from the silken strands, 

 enters the leaf. The head and thorax now being bent right under 

 the body, the anal claspers loose their hold, and the larva, as it 

 enters the mine, thus gradually turns a complete somersault. When 

 the larva is entirely within the mine it blocks the hole where it 

 entered with excrement, thus preventing any small creature entering 

 the mine. Anyone who is accustomed to examine plants with a 

 lens is aware of the vast numbers of small creatures that run over 

 the leaves and flowers. If the mine were left open some of these 

 might enter and worry the larva. 



Chrysopora stipella, var. naviferella, also, as above-mentioned, 

 feeds in the same plants at the same time as C. her}?iannella. This 

 species is a blotch-miner, and instead of mining straight ahead and 

 making a long tunnel, it makes a small, roundish hole and continues 



