PHORODEBMA SMAKAGDAEIA, ESPER* 115 



pills, which then cover the special parts of the body, and make the 

 little creature, when its head is drawn down, exactly resemble the 

 flower- or seed-heads of A. maritima. Later in life (I cannot say when, 

 but before hybernation) these hairs disappear, and are replaced by 

 curious warts, crowned with short, thick spines, and the sides closely 

 covered with colourless, glassy, recurved hooks, better suited to hold 

 firmly the large fragments now used. The position of these special 

 organs — if such they can be called — will be more fully specified in the 

 notes which Mr. Bacot has kindly provided, and may be seen in the 

 plate. It is easy to see that when at rest, or alarmed, the head and 

 thoracic segments being drawn under the abdominal segments, the 

 coat will almost completely cover the larva, and effectually conceal it. 

 Pupation is undergone in a loose, but symmetrical cocoon, composed 

 of rough silk and leaf fragments, very similar to, if not actually 

 identical with, those which have composed the coat. This cocoon is 

 placed rather Ioav down upon the stem of the food-plant, and is both 

 difficult to find and risky to deal with. The pupa is delicate, and 

 before one discovers it, one is likely to do it a fatal injury. Of six 

 which I detected in my garden last August only one was uninjured. 



I have found some difficulty in learning what is known about the 

 variation of P. smarafidaria. Mr. Prout has most kindly gone into the 

 matter for me, and tells me that very little appears to have been 

 recorded. Milliere {Iconographie, iii., pp. 423-25, pi. clii., figs. 116-118) 

 describes and figures a very large form as var. (ji(jantea. Staudinger 

 in his Catalotjue, mentions a P. smarai/daria var. prasinaria, Evers.= 

 rolf/aria, Guenee. It is much smaller, the wings more pointed, the 

 white bands a great deal broader, and the hindwings whiter. It is not 

 uncommon in southern Eussia, and appears in May. This insect 

 Milliere considers to be a distinct species. Beyond these there do not 

 appear to be any described varieties. This has rather surprised me, 

 because in the few of which I have been able to get particulars, there 

 appears to be a considerable range of difference, the reason of this 

 being probably that those series of which I have received details are 

 picked out of much larger numbers. 



Of 245 specimens examined, I have found almost every possible 

 variation except in colour. Neither the spot, nor the lines on the 

 forewings are constant. The former varies much in size, and is some- 

 times, I must believe very rarely, entirely absent. The lines are made 

 up of elongated blotches, or crescents, between the wing nervures, 

 sometimes quite detached, sometimes entirely united. The inner line 

 is less constant than the outer, which persists after the inner has quite 

 disappeared. The following is a summary of the results obtained : 



1. Forewings with no spot, ab. ohsoleta, u. ab. . . . . . . . . 2 



2. Forewings with no transverse line, ab. aZuiea, n. ab. . .. .. 3 



3. Forewings with outer transverse Une only, ab. iinilinea, n. ab. . . 79 



4. Forewings with both transverse lines = smaragdaria, Fab. . . 158 



5. Colour decided blue-green = ab. caeruleo-viriclis, n. ab. . . . . 2 



6. Colour of a much more vivid green = ab. viridis, n. ab. . . . . 1 

 The costal line appears to vary a little in width, and is generally 

 yellowish, although sometimes (? in very perfect specimens) it is 

 decidedly red. The base and costa of the hindwings are more or less 

 extensively white, or yellowish-white. I fancy the more starved the 

 specimens the more extensive is this white patch. I have not 

 noticed that any of these variations have to do with sex. 



(To be continued.) 



