1888.] 105 



As the plant was sickly, I turned out the pot into the open ground, and placed it so 

 that the larvse could crawl on strong growing plants in the garden. From this time 

 the larvse lived quite exposed, and entirely under natural conditions. 



On July 19th, some of the larvse had left the mines, and were feeding outside. 

 They were about one quarter of an inch long, and very pale in colour. Those that 

 were feeding outside the mines, and quite exposed, were eating little round holes in 

 the under-surface of leaves, through the epidermis and parenchyma, leaving only 

 the upper epidermis. 



On July 30th some larvse were still mining under the fluff of the under-sides 

 of the leaves, but most of them were now fully exposed. Some larvse now with 

 quite a dark purplish-brown dorsal line. I did not see the larvse after this for three 

 weeks. 



On August 19th I returned home from Deal, and saw at once that the larvse had 

 recently been at work, still eating round holes through the lower part of the leaves, 

 but leaving the upper epidermis. The larvse were now nearly full-fed, and appeared 

 to vary in a much less degree than the spring brood, being, as a whole, much paler ; 

 no traces of mining ; one pupa spun up in a web on under-side of leaves. This is 

 exactly as many of the early brood pupate. 



On August 24th some of the larvse spun up ready to pupate, in a silken web on 

 under-surface of leaves. 



On August 26th several pupse all spun up in a similar manner, the webs being 

 principally in the fork formed by two veins. 



Many of the plants look as if they have been riddled. The growth of the 

 young leaves causes the epidermis, which the larvse leave, to crack, although the 

 larvse never appear to eat through the leaf. 



On September 4th the first imago appeared, a typical gonodactyla. 



Westcombe Park, S.E. : 



September, 1888. 



ON THE VARIATION IN THE EAELY STAGES OF PLATYPTILIA 

 Q ONODA CTYLA (TRIG ONODA CTTL US) . 



BY J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 



During the early part of May my little son collected a large 

 quantity of the flower-heads and stalks of Tussilago farfara, which 

 were tenanted by the larvas of Platyptilia gonodactyla. I have never 

 paid particular attention to the description of larva?, and as the de- 

 scription (Entom., vol. xv, p. 32), written by Mr. South, seemed to 

 agree pretty generally with my ordinary observations, I came to the 

 conclusion that the larvse were much alike, and did not vary. I was 

 much surprised to find, however, a pale larva on the outside of one of 

 the boxes in which I kept the heads, and was at first puzzled as to 

 what it could be, but I soon came to the conclusion that it was one of 

 my gonodactyla. This led me to examine them more closely, and the 



