64 BRITISH LEDIDOPTERA. 



Staud.), in which the yellow transverse band often entirely dis- 

 appears in the ground colour, be not due to climatic causes. He 

 enters into a detailed comparison of the larvae of var. vibumi and 

 var. meridionalis (loc. cit., p. 407), noting: 



1. Larvae of both hatch simultaneously at commencement of October, and 

 are very similar in first stadium. 2. The yellow dorsal marking, in the 2nd 

 stadium, is entire or simply divided by two very fine black lines in var. vibumi, 

 the marking being distinctly broken up into four parts in the form of "accents" 

 or "accolades" in var. meridionalis. 3. In the 3rd stadium (end of November) 

 the dorsal fur of var. vibumi becomes beautiful golden-yellow in- colour, whilst 

 that of var. meridionalis is dirty grey ; the lateral hairs sparkling white in var. 

 vibumi and of a dirty hue in var. meridionalis, &c. 4. In the 4th stadium (Febru- 

 ary) the differences are accentuated, the fur of var. vibumi becomes golden red, 

 with the lateral hairs and long dorsal hairs (not the dorsal fur) white, whilst 

 meridionalis has the fur pale grey, the longest lateral hairs white, with ferruginous 

 bases, the hairs on prothorax and the dorsal hairs ferruginous, &c. 5. In the 5th 

 stadium (end of February), var. vibumi is covered with long white arched hairs ; 

 var. meridionalis has similar hairs but yellowish- white, the two extreme segments 

 strongly conspicuous from their rusty colour. 6. The last (5th) represents the 

 adult coloration although the larva of vibumi gets in the 6th stadium some 

 carmelite, red-brown hairs (almost like those of the larva? of Macrothylacia 

 rubi), and that of var. meridionalis becomes whitish-blond; besides this, vibumi 

 still has the subdorsal line less white and narrower than in all the forms of quercus 

 (including var. meridionalis) from all localities and always interrupted at the 

 incisions by spots or dots of bright ferruginous ; lastly all the hairs (dorsal and lateral) 

 are mixed with other white hairs (not fur) bent in many directions of different lengths, 

 but always thick and a little woolly, whilst the larvae of the Parisian quercus 

 have all the hairs concolorous, pale ashy, silky and straight. 



Guenee asserts that these differences were to be noted in all 

 the larvae of var. meridionalis and var. viburni which he reared. 

 From his observations he formulated the following conclusions : 



1. That the larva of viburni by the red-brown or cai'melite colour of its fur, and 

 the long white hairs mixed therewith, possesses a facies that, once seen, cannot be 

 mistaken. 



2. That the larva of the quercus of Provence (—var. meridionalis) differs, 

 much less essentially without doubt, from the larva of L. querciis from Paris ; in 

 the early stadia, by the " eparpillement " or breaking-up of the fleur-de-lys design ; 

 and, in the later stadia, by the whiter dorsal fur and more abundant hairs. 



3. That the difference between the larvae of ribumi and callunae (compared 

 with those of var. meridionalis or Parisian quercih) becomes marked at Hist 

 as the larvae grow, is most marked after the hist moult, and becomes less 

 marked as the larvae get older. 



As to the time of appearance of var. viburni, Gue'ne'e notes that 

 when he first bred the Provencal form he expected the imagines would 

 emerge early, and carried the pupae with him on a long journey into 

 Switzerland, but they did not emerge until after he had returned to 

 Chateaudun, in September and October, although /.. quercus was flying 

 everywhere, even in the Swiss mountains, in the middle of July. 

 The food -plants utilised varied, but Viburnus tenus, our common 

 garden laurestinus, was preferred. Gue'ne'e found no difference 

 between the cocoons and pupae of var. viburni and those of var. 

 meridionalis. He further observes that the imagines are very close, 

 the most constant point of difference being in the tint of the 

 yellow bands, that of the forewings being paler than that of the 

 hindwings in viburni, whilst they are of the same shade in meridi- 

 onalis. Milliere notes, as we have already stated, that in the Alpes- 

 Maritimes the species emerges in July and August, sometimes in 

 September, the male flying during the day at great speed, the variety 

 (viburni) being much more frequent than the type (meridionalis). He 



