﻿THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Vol. XXIIL] AUGUST, 1890. [No. 327. 



THE LIFE-HISTORY OF DECLANA FLOCCOSA. 

 By G. V. Hudson, F.E.S. 



On August 19th, 1889, I obtained a female of this common 

 insect, at rest on a fence, which I conjectured had either 

 hybernated during the winter or else recently emerged from a 

 pupa. From this female I determined to try and obtain ova and 

 rear the insect right through, in order, first, to learn the com- 

 plete life-history ; and, secondly, to observe the effect of different 

 food-plants on the variation of the imago. For this purpose I 

 divided the ova, of which I was fortunate enough to obtain about 

 100, into two equal lots, placing them in two separate cages, 

 nos. 1 and 2, and feeding no. 1 on Aristotelia racemosa, and no. 2 

 on Leptospermum ericoides. The eggs of this insect when first 

 laid are oval in shape and light green in colour, becoming bronzy 

 a few days before the emergence of the larva. 



The young larvae, which appeared on September 20th, were 

 very attenuated, with only ten legs. In colour they were greenish 

 ochreous, striped with brownish pink, which was most apparent 

 near the segmental divisions. Length, If lines. They were very 

 active, and did not eat the egg-shells after emergence. 



On October 3rd, the larvae in cage 1 showed a decided advance 

 over those in cage 2, and had developed a pair of rudimentary 

 prolegs on the fifth abdominal segment ; otherwise there were no 

 observable differences between the two lots of larvse. On October 

 14th, the larvae in cage 1 had the two additional prolegs completely 

 developed, and showed distinct traces of the fleshy filaments ; 

 those in cage 2 being about as far advanced as the others were 

 on October 3rd. On October 25th, about one half of the larvae 

 in cage 1 had passed their last moult, and the following description 

 was then made:— The body is subcylindrical in shape, much 

 flattened underneath. In colour the larvae are pale brownish 

 pink, with numerous irregular brown markings, which in some 

 individuals tend to form two broad subdorsal lines. The under 



KNTOM. — AUGUST, 1890. S 



