556 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



Milliere also observes that they often inflict great damage on the fruit 

 trees in southern France. In 1867 the larvae were extremely abundant 

 in the London district, being especially noticeable in the parks — 

 Green Park, St. James's Park, &c, on the railings (T. H. Briggs). In 

 June, 1890, the fruit trees were stripped in the Gloucester district 

 (Watkins) ; usually a pest in Worcestershire (Kea) ; the larvae often do 

 damage in apple orchards in the King's Lynn district (Atmore) ; 

 generally a pest in Belgium (Lambillion) ; larvae swarmed at Hitchin 

 in May and June, 1898, when webs of young larvae were to be found 

 on almost every bush and hedge in the district. They were more par- 

 ticularly abundant on Primus spinosa and Crataegus oxyacantha, as well 

 as the plum trees in orchards and gardens (Cottam) ; often excessively 

 abundant in Beds and doing considerable damage, when a half-pint of 

 petroleum put in a pail of water forms an excellent mixture to syringe 

 on the webs in order to destroy the larvae (Bond-Smith). On May 17th, 

 1897, the larvas were very abundant at Langhorne ; nine separate 

 colonies were counted in a distance of 40 yards ( Jefferys) . It was the 

 insect of the year at Oxton in 1897, being exceedingly abundant (Studd). 

 The larvae are very injurious to fruit trees both in the Netherlands and 

 Belgium (Heylaerts). Even in Switzerland, where the species is not 

 generally reputed to be very common, Frey says that it is often 

 injurious to fruit trees. It may be well to point out that Balbiana 

 states that the larvae of ill. neustria can readily be infected with 

 pebrine, and is, in fact, more susceptible to the disease than is the silk- 

 worm (Bombyx mori) itself. 



Larva. — In the first stadium the head (though comparatively large 

 on emergence) is small when well-grown in this instar, black, smooth, 

 shiny, rather tall, tending to be square, with small bright brown hairs 

 scattered over it. The body of fairly even thickness ; thoracic seg- 

 ments slightly more bulky than abdominals, which slightly taper 

 towards anus ; a slight lateral flange present ; hairs light brown, 

 tapering, serrated or finely thorned, some very long (on dorsal area 

 some are quite half the length of larva). Legs black and shiny. 

 Prolegs pale but not distinctively coloured. Skin smooth, without 

 spicules. Colour black or dusky, the dorsal area yellowish-orange, 

 with a dark longitudinal median band ; the orange colour most strongly 

 developed as a border to this band, and fading gradually into the 

 ground colour on outer area of dorsum ; sides dusky, but suggesting dif- 

 ferently coloured bands ; a whitish subspiracular band coincident With 

 the flange ; the coloration is most marked on the middle abdominal 

 segments fading out on the thoracic and anal segments. Each abdo- 

 minal segment appears to be divided into four subsegments, and the 

 thoracic into five or six, but they are of unequal size and clearness, 

 differing according as the point of view be lateral or dorsal, the larger 

 ones appear to have less distinctly marked subdivisions when the larva 

 is in movement. The tubercles are shiny black, the larger ones 

 chitinous and raised, giving rise to three or more hairs, and thus form 

 warts ; i bears about five hairs on the abdominal and seven or eight on 

 the meso- and metathoracic segments, ii is very small, bearing two 

 hairs on the abdominal and a very minute one only on the meso- and 

 metathoracic segments ; there is a minute single-haired tubercle in 

 addition to ii on dorsal area ; ii is farther from the median line than i, 

 and the additional tubercle is almost exactly behind i longitudinally 



