﻿1869.] 65 



H. oleracea, being, however, of a more highly finished appearanoe ; or perhaps it 

 reminds more of the larvaa of the HeMotlridce. When full fed, the larva measures 

 nearly two inches in length, rolls in a ring when disturbed, is a true nocturnal 

 feeder, and subterraneous in its habits, burying in the light vegetable soil or within 

 the close tufts of the sea-pink. During the day time, it spins a slight silken web 

 in the earth or amongst dead plants as a puparium, and changes immediately to a 

 light brown, smooth, stout pupa, ovoid to the end of the wing-covers, then sharply 

 conical to the anal segment, out of which spring two rather large hooks. It only 

 remains a few weeks in the pupa state, the perfect insect appearing in July and 

 August, frequenting the rocky shores of the Isle of Man, near Douglas and 

 Duchan. On the continent, this species varies very much, some specimens being 

 difficult to separate from P. fiavocincta, whilst others want the yellowish tones 

 which enrich that species ; but I have not yet seen or heard of a single specimen 

 of our dark form occurring anywhere except in the Isle of Man, and I think that, 

 as the Manx specimens are all of one type, I shall call them " Var. statices." — 

 C. S. Gregson, Rose Bank, Stanley, Liverpool, \Oth July, 1869. 



Description of the larva of Plusia interrogations. — On June 9th, 1869, I had 

 the pleasure to receive the larva, nearly full fed, of this pretty species, from Dr. F. 

 Buchanan White, \yho had taken several in Inverness-shire, and who during the 

 previous autumn had swept up a few young examples from heather in Ross-shire, 

 four of which he kindly sent to me in October. These were barely one-third of an 

 inch long, and presented the same pattern as the mature larva, being of a full 

 green colour with the sub-spiracular stripe of sulphur-yellow very conspicuous 

 They fed occasionally on heather till the end of November, and rested on the 

 stems in a curved posture. Only one, however, lived onto nearly the end of March, 

 and was then half-an-inch long, and, no young shoots appearing on the heather, it fed 

 a little on a blade of grass and sallow catkin ; but one morning I had the mortification 

 of seeing it hang lifeless from a stem. 



The full grown larva of interrogationis measured nearly one inch and a quarter 

 in length when stretched out, though it generally had the anterior half of its body 

 arched upwards, being thick in proportion to its length, tapering gradually from 

 the sixth segment to the head which is smallest, the hinder segment tapering but 

 little. Viewed sideways, the back of the twelfth segment rises a little to the 

 middle, and slopes rapidly downwards from thence to the anal extremity, the two 

 pair of ventral prolegs being equally developed. 



The ground colour is a bright and deep full green, but paler on the back, 

 though the dorsal stripe is as dark as the sides, and begins wide, narrows, then 

 swells wider to an angle in the middle, decreases similarly, and widens towards 

 the end, and is finally edged throughout with greenish-white. This is its course 

 through all the segments, except the thoracic, where it is more simple and linear. 



The sub-dorsal line is greenish-white, finely edged with darker green ; and 

 midway between the dorsal and sub-dorsal is a tortuous line of greenish-white on 

 which are the usual tubercular warts of the same colour, each bearing a fine brown 

 hair. The sub-spiracular stripe is sulphur-yellow, and the belly and legs are not quite 

 so green as the space between the sub-spiracular and sub-dorsal. 



The head is green, finely freckled with greenish-white, and having a black 



