LASIOCAMPA. 39 



Pairing between $ L. var. viburni and $ L. var. callunae. — The young 

 larvae closely resembled those of L. var. callunae in their early instars ; in the 

 penultimate skin they were much nearer to L. var. viburni, differing only in a few 

 points. Thus the long dorsal hairs were either fewer in number or less brilliantly 

 white than in L. var. viburni, and faint traces of the chain of white mediodorsal 

 tufts were still present. In their last skin all the long hairs of the larvae became 

 dusky. The colour of their heads varied, but all showed mottling of red and 

 indigo in varied proportions. 



With regard to the white spots which are present in the centre of 

 the subdorsal area of the meso- and metathoracic segments, Bacot 

 notes (Ent. Rec, ix., p. 287) that they "are developed from the 

 ends of the last and largest of the orange transverse bands which 

 cross the dorsal area of these segments, and which, together with 

 similar stripes on the abdominal segments, give the young larva its 

 characteristic appearance. After the first larval moult, the ends of 

 these bands on the meso- and metathoracic segments become very 

 much lighter, and upon the larva attaining its adult stage these 

 cream-coloured ends are left as disconnected spots, due to the loss 

 of the orange transverse bands, or their obliteration by the dorsal 

 hairs. Young larvae of Cosmotriche potatoria possess similar bright 

 yellow spots in the same position, but, in this species, they are 

 distinctly marked as spots in the first skin, and, although clearly 

 marked in the fourth skin, have not undergone and do not undergo 

 any further development, at least before hybernation." Whilst 

 making some observations on the larva of L. quercus in August, 

 1896, Bacot was greatly puzzled as to the significance of these 

 spots, but, whilst examining larvae of French L. var. meridionalis 

 and L. var. viburni, he noticed that at or about the fourth stage 

 the spots in question developed into a prominent white oval spot 

 with rather pointed ends, and with a circular orange centre. This 

 combination of the two colours, he says, was too remarkable to 

 be overlooked, and immediately called to mind the manner in 

 which the ocellated spots of the larva of Eumorpha ( Choero- 

 campa) elpenor are developed. He adds : "I at first thought that 

 these spots on the larva of L. quercus might be the remnants of 

 identical ocellated spots transmitted from a common ancestor, but 

 my notes on the larva of E. elpenor showed that, in this species, the 

 ocellated spots were situated on the first and second abdominal seg- 

 ments from swellings in the subdorsal line, and not, as in the larva of 

 L. quercus, on the meso- and metathoracic segments. I think, how- 

 ever, that the spots in question are really the remnants of ocellated 

 spots that probably had a protective value as warning markings in 

 the ancestral larval form of L. qtiercils and Cosmotriche potatoria; 

 and I would point out that imperfect or rudimentary ocellated spots 

 are present on the metathoracic segment of both Eumorpha elpenor 

 and E. porcellus ; also that a large black ocellated spot, with two 

 blue pupils, is present on the third thoracic segment of the larva of 

 Daphnis nerii, while the larvae of Deilephila gallii and D. euphorbiae 

 have a series of large yellowish spots on the subdorsal area of all 

 the segments from the mesothorax to the eighth abdominal." 



The cocoon is of the well-known "eggar" shape; in fact, it is 

 the cocoon of L. quercus that has given the group the popular 

 name of " eggars." The imago does not remove a definite lid 

 portion from the cocoon on emergence, but softens the material that 



