236 Lionel de Niceville — On the Life-History of [No. 2, 



I will now give the results of my breeding of this species. On 

 September 1st I placed two female M. mineus in a breeding-cage with 

 glass top and sides into which I had previously introduced a pot of grow- 

 ing grass. The same evening the insects laid about thirty eggs singly and 

 in batches on both sides of the blades of grass indiscriminately. The eggs 

 are almost white, shining, and semitransparent. On September 5th, the 

 one female died, and her body on being opened was found to be quite 

 empty and devoid of eggs. On September 6th, the other female died, and 

 most of the eggs hatched. As usual the young larvae made their first meal 

 off the empty egg-shells. They are pale green with a black head bearing 

 two very obtuse black horns on the crown, and with the caudal processes 

 very small. 



Down to the last change of skin, the larvae are pale green without 

 any conspicuous markings ; after that change they become pale reddish, 

 finely mottled with greenish, ochreous, and other colours, the general 

 effect being somewhat that of the brownish colour of a grass stalk to 

 which the bases of the dead leaves are still attached. At this stage, the 

 larvae remain chiefly amongst the bases of the grass stalks, where they 

 are very difficult to be seen. When full-grown, they are about IJ inches 

 long. The first segment is somewhat narrower than the head, the body 

 gradually thickens to the middle, and then equally regularly and 

 gradually tapers to the anal segment, which is furnished with two 

 short, slightly divergent pointed processes or tails. There is a very 

 faint greenish dorsal line, with about six obscure darkish oblique 

 streaks at the sides, the four middle ones of which are the most pro- 

 minent. The head is blackish, armed with two divergent, blunt, conical 

 horns, which are obscure reddish like the body ; both head and horns are 

 thickly set with small rough tubercles, and the face is covered with 

 short hairs. The whole of the body is very rough or ragose, and very 

 thickly set with minute tubercles. The legs and underside of the body 

 are coloured like the upper surface. The pupa is usually pale serai- 

 transparent green without markings, quite smooth, with the thorax very 

 convex above and constricted at the base of the abdomen, and with 

 the spiracles black. I obtained one differently coloured pupa : this was 

 rich reddish-brown, with the spiracles prominently bright yellow. The 

 larvae turned to pupae between September 28th and October 4th, and 

 butterflies emerged between October 5th and October 12th, — it seems, 

 unnecessary to record the exact dates. The imagines, though variable, 

 were all nearer to M. indistans than to M. mineus, while the majority 

 were true M. indistans. 



Mr. Butler* appears to consider the non-ocellated form of M. 

 mineus {M. indistans) as rare. In Calcutta it is far commoner than the 

 * Proc. Ent. Soc. Loud. 1885, p, vi. 



