440 BRITISH LEPlDOPTERA. 



bit thyme and other plants. The white and yellow larvae were kept 

 separately, and whilst the former furnished mostly males, the latter 

 produced mostly females. He further observes that the yellow larvae 

 had a dark dorsal stripe, whereas on the white or whitish-blue larvae 

 no dorsal stripe was perceptible. Hering, in 1846, discriminates 

 between these two forms, and states that the whitish larvae found on 

 Pimpinella never occur later than about the middle of May, the 

 yellow larvae (of var. heringi) are found in June. 



Cocoon. — Hubner describes the cocoon as " yellowish, very shiny," 

 Wilde as "convex, of a brownish-yellow colour." Borkhausen calls it 

 "a cylindrical, straw-yellow, parchment-like cocoon," whilst it is, ac- 

 cording to Boisduval, "fusiform, much elongated, of a brownish-yellow 

 colour, found on Trifoliummontanum," etc. Oberthiir describes the cocoon 

 as "oval, opaque, of a white that is slightly yellowish in colour, and 

 shiny." Birchall states that the cocoon is concealed near the surface of the 

 ground, often attached to a stone, but never elevated on the stem of a 

 plant like the cocoons of the other British Anthrocerids. Blagg says that 

 the cocoon is hidden deep down among the stems of heather and grass, 

 and sometimes fastened to stones. The cocoons formed by Freyer's 

 " yellow " larvae (referred to in the preceding paragraph) were silvery- 

 grey in colour, some few, however, were pale yellow. The cocoons 

 of the " white" larvae were also much flatter, and not so vaulted as 

 those of the " yellow " larvae. Buckler's larvae spun cocoons on the 

 glass cylinder in which they were confined, and not on their food- 

 plant. They were of a glistening, dirty white colour, shorter and 

 more truncate than the cocoons of A. trifolii. When the imago 

 emerges, the pupa-case is not left sticking out of the cocoon, but falls 

 down near it. 



Pupa. — Hubner notes the pupa as "black-brown on the wing- 

 sheaths, and thorax ; the remaining parts yellowish." Wilde says 

 " blackish-brown, abdomen yellowish." Borkhausen remarks that the 

 pupa " is light yellow, with light brown wing-covers," and that " the 

 pupal stage lasts three weeks." Freyer says that the pupae he 

 examined were very soft, some yellowish-brown, some black-brown, 

 others altogether black. Buckler describes the pupa as brown, with 

 the wing-cases rather darker than the body, and observes that different 

 individuals varied in depth of tint. Barrett describes the pupa as rather 

 short, thick, with head, wing-sheaths, leg-sheaths, and back, black- 

 brown ; abdominal segments yellowish. 



Food-plants. — Trifolium, Veronica officinalis, Briza minor, Cyno- 

 surus cristatus, Genista tinctoria, Thymus serpyllum (Borkhausen), Pim- 

 pinella saxifraya (Hering), Trifolium montanum, Lotus corniculatus, 

 Rippocrepis comosa, and other leguminous plants (Boisduval), Eryn- 

 yium campestre (Milliere). [? Polyyala vulyaris (Barrett)] . 



Parasites. — The larvae are badly infested with Gordii (Freyer). 



Habits and habitat. — This species was first recorded as British by 

 Newman {Zoologist, 1854, p. 4180), who stated that about a dozen speci- 

 mens had been taken the previous summer on the west coast of Ireland, 

 by Milner. In June, 1854, More sent specimens for distribution 

 among the members of the Entomological Society of London. These 

 were captured at Ardrahan, and More states that " the Anthrocera is 

 quite plentiful about here. It appears about a fortnight earlier than 

 A. filipendulae. I first captured it in 1851 I believe 



