1888.] 127 



he had only seen the full-grown larva. I made various unsuccessful 

 attempts to find it at the commencement of the present year, both in 

 the Picris and the Titssilago, of which in one or two spots there was 

 a good growth, and it was not until March 27th, that I at last suc- 

 ceeded in meeting with it in the Picris. Again there were four larvae 

 at the same root, and with the same inequality in their ages — extended 

 in walking the smallest measured 3f lines, the biggest 1\ lines, the 

 latter I should judge being two months in advance of the former. 

 This inequality was retained throughout, for on June 2nd, a moth 

 emerged, whilst one larva still remained feeding. 



The two youngest larvae I have seen were of slender shape, and of nearly uni- 

 form width. The head shining brown. The colour in the one a semi-transparent 

 greenish-white, with the spots very conspicuous, large, black, and prominent ; in the 

 other the green tint was absent, and the spots were dark grey, not black. The hairs 

 black and bristly. They were between three and four lines long, and were probably 

 in their second skin. With the next moult, an apparent transformation occurs in 

 the spots. To the naked eye they now appear small, black, and bristly ; but it is 

 only an optical illusion, due to the loss of colour in the spot, and the consequent 

 prominence of the insertion of the black bristly hairs. At this stage it begins to 

 assume a glistening appearance. No further change takes place in the next moult, 

 but in the following and last one, the bristly look of the spots disappears, and the 

 larva acquires a smooth glosay look. In this its last skin, it is a long and rather 

 slender larva, tapering but slightly, and more in front than behind. The segments 

 plump, with the divisions and the ordinary transverse wrinkle across the back well 

 marked. Head clear shining brown, with darker mouth. Plates also shining, the 

 thoracic one a very pale brown, the anal pale ochreous. The colour translucent 

 white, allowing the food canal to be seen, especially in the anterior segments, to 

 which it communicates sometimes a black, sometimes a purplish, hue. The black 

 dorsal vessel shows at intervals. The spots, which are slightly tinted with ochreous, 

 are very large and flat, covering a large part of the surface, and from their glossy 

 character give the larvee the glistening appearance. The hairs are dark and bristly, 

 and the spiracles round and black. At all ages it is a very active larva, rolling into 

 a ring, and ejecting a black fluid when alarmed. The cocoon, made of particles of 

 soil and gnawings, is attached to the root, and in shape is a short oval with blunt 

 ends. The pupa has no peculiarity of form, and is pale red, with yellowish wing- 

 cases: 



The general appearance of this larva is thoroughly that of a 

 Pyralid, though it does not, especially in the later stages, quite come 

 up to my notion of what a Scoparia larva ought to be. The slender 

 elongate form, the glistening surface, the pale and flat spots, and the 

 habit of rolling into a ring seem as much out of order, as does the 

 selection of its food plant. 



Tarrington, Ledbury : 



September, 1888. 



