1871.) 157 
surprised, a few days afterwards, at finding a specimen of Pterophorus Lieni- 
gianus at rest on the ceiling. The riddle was therefore solved, as it was clear 
that the pupa had been hidden so well that I had overlooked it. 
I was too busy then to go after the perfect insect, but promised myself a 
pilgrimage in June of the present year to look for the larva. However, on 
May 26th, when returning from an unsuccessful search for Trifurcula pul- 
verosella in its haunt among the crab bushes in a neighbouring lane, T caught 
sight of a bladdery-looking leaf of Artemisea vulgaris which I instantly 
recognized, and had the exceeding satisfaction of finding the pretty little hairy 
larva of Pterophorus Lienigianus very much at home, with several more, 0c- 
cupying other leaves of the same plant. 
This larva has the most singular mode of life of any plume larva with 
which I am acquainted. When young, it gnaws oblong blotches near the tips 
of upper leaves of the Artemisia, leaving the cuticle of the upper-side entire 
and nearly transparent, eating the parenchyma, and carefully rolling back the 
downy skin of the under-side to the edge of the blotch (as is done by the 
larva of galactodactylus on burdock). These blotches are seldom more than 
half-an-inch long, but generally there are two or three of them side by side. 
When about one-fourth grown, the larva moves down to a lower leat, which it 
draws together, uniting the tips underneath, and carefully sewing together the 
edges of the segments, so as to make a secure little tent, inside which it feeds 
as before, only making larger blotches side by side, between the ribs of the 
leaf, until the greater part of the parenchyma is devoured, after which, it 
deserts this habitation, makes another lower down, and so on, constructing 
four or five tents before becoming full-grown. Then, disdaining to make use 
of the larval habitation as a protection for the pupa, it descends towards the 
ground, and becomes a hairy pupa on the lower part of the stem, or on some 
bit of stick or other convenient object. 
The pupa has, strongly developed, the curious power (shared more or less 
by most of those of the Péterophoride) of throwing its head back over its 
tail with considerable force. Thus, anything touching the anal segment is pretty 
certain to receive a smart rap—delivered backwards—from the head of the 
pupa. 
Every one must have observed that when a plume emerges, the pupa 
bends back so as to allow the moth to use its long legs as soon as they are 
freed from the envelope. 
The deserted tent is a curious object, with its oblong windows edged 
with white down, and its seams made as neatly as a spider even could do it. 
In the case of large leaves, only one of the divisions is made use of, the whole 
leaf being beyond the powers of the architect. In confinement, these larve, 
like those of teucrii, throw off their protective habit, and make no tent, but 
simply feed under the leaves in their usual fashion. Unlike tewcriz, however, 
they are very easy to rear, as, with a little care, nearly every specimen produces 
the perfect insect. 
