DIMORPHA VERSICOLORA. 261 



(McArthur) ; in all the heathy parts of Tilgate and Balcombe forests, 

 where there is a low birch growth to be found (Merrifield); in 

 woods in the Reading district (Holland). On the Hartz mountains 

 it occurs at about 2300 feet elevation, between the Brocken and 

 Schierke (Speyer) ; distributed in the valleys and on the mountains 

 of Baden as far as Wertheim, but not to be found in the plains 

 (Reutti); in some of the large German forests, in one of which, in 

 the spring of 1890, hundreds of females were found drowned during 

 heavy floods (Ent. Rec, i., p. 58). 



Time of appearance. — The imago emerges (according to the 

 season) from the end of March until the commencement of May, April 

 being the usual month, in nature, for its appearance, whilst, rarely, 

 autumnal specimens are reared in confinement. Imagines April 

 and beginning of May, larvae end of June and July in Pomerania 

 (Hering); March 1 6th, 1882, near Paris (Dupont); May 15th, 1883, a 

 2 in the Anclam district (Homyerj; imagines in March and April, in 

 the Valais, everywhere rare in the coppices of the lower region, near 

 Sion, Sierre, etc. (Favre) ; Nolcken states that, in the Baltic 

 provinces, the imagines appear in most years in the middle of April, 

 but after the cold spring of 1867, he obtained a $ as late as 

 May 20th; Fritsch gives dates for the Vienna district from March 26th 

 — May 21st; but Frisch notices (Soc. Ent., xi., pp. 19, 148) the emerg- 

 ence of nine specimens between October nth — 19th, 1894, and 

 Gauckler mentions (Illus. Woch.fiir Ent, ii., p. 32) the emergence of 

 a fine imago on December 1st, 1896 from a pupa that had passed the 

 winter of 1895-6 in the pupal stage ; Alderson records {Ent. Eec, 

 ii., p. 296) the emergence of one on October 6th, 1891*, and 

 Kricheldorff notes several bred about September 12th, 1899 j, whilst 

 Reutti states that occasional October specimens occur in Baden, 

 from pupae of the preceding year. Such autumnal emergences 

 appear, however, to be very rare. A larva beaten from birch in 

 Darenth Wood, June 6th 1805, spun up July 8th, imago (<?) 

 emerged March 20th, 1806 (Neale, Tr. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1812); a ? 

 on alder trunk, April 15th, iS 10 (Hatchett teste Neale, loc. cit.); 

 Stephens notes (III., iv., App. p. 385) that on April 8th, 1833, ne 

 saw several specimens on the wing at Coombe Wood ; April 30th, 

 1839, resting on iron railings on the bank of the river Monnow 

 at Monmouth (Parry) ; March 5th, 1846, at Worcester, after 

 being in pupal stage eighteen months (Stevens) ; April 10th, 

 1857, many seen at St. Leonard's Forest (Jeffrey) ; April 

 16th, 1 8th, 21st, 1857, April 5th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 19th, 1858, 

 April 4th, 1859, at Tilgate (Image); April, 1857, 6 <? s and 3 $ s at 

 Tilgate (Price); April 17th — May 12th, 1857, a fine series at Kinloch 



* Alderson reared a large number of D. versicoloram 1890 — in the following 

 spring only about one-half of the pupae emerged — these were followed by a fine $ 

 that emerged on the evening of October 6th, 1 891, the pupae having been kept 

 indoors. 



t Kricheldorff records (Berl. Ent. Zeits., xlv., Sitz. p. 39) that he obtained 

 ova of D. versicolora from a ? from the Carpathians in 1898. The larvae fed up and 

 in due course pupated, the pupae being placed in the open for the winter. In March, 

 1899, the breeding-cage was taken indoors, and all but a dozen produced imagines ; 

 the remaining pupae being alive, the cage was again put out of doors, when, about 

 September 12th, a few of the pupae produced imagines, the remaining pupae going 

 over the winter of 1899-1900. 



