18 



a bug. A different case is that of Myelois cribrum, which, 

 especially a small male, when at rest with closely clasped 

 and almost rolled up wings, and sitting snugly on a thistle 

 leaf, appears to be nothing more than a sheltering specimen 

 of the common Hyponomeuta cognatella, which, however, does 

 not appear to be found anywhere near its chosen locaHties ; 

 and that of GelecJiia longicornis, of which the different varieties 

 seem to simulate Pempelia adornatella, P. subornatella, and 

 P. porphyrella, species with which it surely would never be 

 found associated. 



The subject of larval resemblance is so large a one that I 

 will not attempt to deal with it here, further than to notice a 

 few curious cases of special resemblance, which have forced 

 themselves on my attention. Everyone knows the pretty 

 larva of Cleora lichenaria and how accurately it resembles the 

 particular bunch of lichen among which it may be feeding, 

 but I think that not everyone has seen the larva of Anthocharis 

 cardamines feeding on Hesperis inaUonalis, and observed 

 that it is precisely like the seed pod of the plant, the whitish 

 line down its sides accurately representing the line of reflected 

 light down the side of the glossy seed-vessel. The larva of 

 Gonepteryx rhamni is not a conspicuous object as it lies along 

 the mid-rib of a leaf of Rhamnus frangula ; nor is that of 

 TrachcBa piniperda among needles of Scotch fir, which from its 

 dark green and white longitudinal lines, it closely simulates ; 

 nor that of Anuria niyrtilli on a heather twig, with crossed 

 white markings, making the green interspaces appear to be 

 leaves ; nor that oi Eupithecia pimpinellata when it has eaten 

 off a section of an umbel of Pimpinella magna, and, taking its 

 stand on one of the rays, becomes a mere stiff continuation 

 thereof. The dark la:pva of Biston hiriaria, on the trunk of 

 a London lime tree, is apt to look exactly like a short bit of 

 dirty string, for which the sparrows nmst surely mistake it, 

 or they would hardly neglect such a luscious morsel. But I 

 think that the most remarkable case of larval mimicry which 

 I have seen is that of a Eupithecia extensaria, which feeds on 

 Arteinesta maritima (sea wormwood). The stems and leaf- 

 stalks of the plant are furrowed and clothed with white down 

 in such a manner that all appear striped with alternate green 

 and dull white, and this larva is similarly ornamented with 

 longitudinal stripes of the same colours and of the same 

 width ; the young flower-buds of the plant are tipped with 

 brown, and the front of the head of the larva is coloured in 

 the same manner ; the segments of the leaves are somewhat 

 tumid at the tips, and the anal legs or claspers of the larva 



