172 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



a dorsal band of minute yellow dots almost concealed by the long 

 reddish hairs. Venter blackish, with two bands, composed of black 

 dots, and with tufts of whitish hairs at the incisions." Buckler 

 gives (Larvae, &c, iii., pi. 1., figs. 3, 3a, 3b) first class figures of 

 the young larva (fig. 3) before hybernation, and two others 

 (figs. 3a, 3b), one of a duller, the other of a brighter, tinted form, of 

 the adult larva. 



Pupation. — The cocoon is usually spun from 6 ins. — 1 2 ins. above 

 the ground, on a grass or reed culm, or some similar object. 

 The larva first spins a whitish silken covering to the culm, surround- 

 ing it, and then attaches the loose baggy cocoon to this so that 

 the primary silk coating of the culm extends above and below the 

 bottom of the cocoon. It often happens that, if the culm contracts, 

 the little silken tube surrounding it slips up and down carrying 

 the cocoon with it. At Deal the cocoons are principally fastened to 

 the stiff tough stalks of Sparganium, on Wicken Fen to reeds, and at 

 Higham to tall Triticum stems, but are here also occasionally found on 

 the low stems of the bushes forming the hedges. Butterfield says that 

 the cocoons are found on reeds in drains, and also in heathy places 

 at Wilsden ; Tetley notes the cocoons on stems of common rush at 

 Dinas Mawddwy ; Lambillion says that the larva makes its cocoon 

 on stones, trees and grasses in the Namur district ; Atmore that 

 the cocoons and larva? are found by ditch-sides at King's Lynn, 

 the former attached to Arundo phragmites as well as grasses ; 

 Dalgiish notes that the larvae spin up on Juncus in Argyllshire, and 

 Crass that, between Blyth and Old Hartley, although a few 

 cocoons are placed conspicuously, most are made in the thickest 

 tussocks and situated low down. Usually on stems of reed on the 

 banks of streams near Emsworth, once on the stem of a small bush 

 in Wicken Fen, once also on a fence in Hants (Christy) ; the larvae 

 always spin up on reed culms growing among grass at Clacton 

 (James); on stems of dead grass, &c, at Skipwith (Ash); cocoons 

 on grass stems always near the ground at Guildford (Grover) ; a 

 cocoon in Wicken Fen spun on the flat upper surface of a flag leaf 

 ( Rothschild) ; at Folkestone on grass stems near the roots which 

 they strongly resemble in colour (Pickett). 



Cocoon. —Composed of pale yellowish silk; ij inches long, § 

 inches wide at broadest part ; almost pointed at lower end, rounded 

 at upper, and loosely spun. The imago forces its way out by 

 making a quite rounded aperture at the upper end. There are 

 sundry brown patches on the outside of the cocoon, and these appear 

 to be bunches of the dark larval hairs. The cocoon has somewhat 

 the texture of thin paper, and is smoother inside (Tutt). Cocoons 

 vary from 1*5 ins. — 2 ins. in length, from slightly over '38 ins. 

 — -56 ins. in depth (dorso-ventral diameter), and -37 ins. — -44 ins. 

 in width (lateral diameter). The greatest diameter of the cocoon 

 is usually at about one-third from the apex (or head end), whilst it 

 tapers much more gradually to the opposite end ; there is some 

 variation in shape dependent upon position, and the cocoons spun by 

 2 larvae exhibit the tapering of the long anal portion less markedly 

 than do those spun by S larvae, and are generally stouter in 

 comparison with their length. The silk, papery in texture, varies 

 from a rather bright yellow to a dull whitish-yellow tint. The 



