326 feRITISH LEP1D0PTERA. 



found upon the bright green larvae ; in three larvae the tubercles 

 were pink, without a trace of yellow or orange ; in one the tubercles 

 were pure white. Of the three larvae with pink tubercles, one was 

 recognised from its size to be a ? , and it was of a dull green colour, 

 with the black markings largely developed ; the other two were 

 similarly recognised as males, and they were both of the brightest 

 green colour, but with the black markings also well-developed (unusually 

 so for so light a ground colour). The perfect insects emerged during 

 the last few days of April, 1886, and 120 ova were obtained from the 

 2 moth which was developed from the larva with pink tubercles, the 

 male parent being derived from one of the other two pink-tubercled larvae 

 just described. The larvae emerged May 23rd, 1886, and were fed 

 upon hawthorn ; 80 of these larvae were reared by Poulton, the re- 

 mainder by Dixey. Of Dixey's 40, 13 had yellow or orange tubercles 

 in the last stadium, 27 having pink ones like the parents, the 

 black segmental rings were not imperfect in any of the 40 larvae, 

 as was so often the case in the original batch ot larvae. In this they 

 completely resembled their parents. The green ground colour varied, 

 but was mostly bright like that of the larva of the $ parent. Of the 

 80 larvae reared by Poulton, 48 were noted in the last stadium, and 

 37 had pink tubercles. The results, therefore, tabulate as follows : 

 1885. — 80 larvae, of which 3 (or 375 per cent.) possessed pink 

 tubercles. 1886. — 88 larvae, of which 64 (or 727 per cent.) possessed 

 pink tubercles. Poulton adds that his larvae were exposed to surround- 

 ings of different colours, but that the tubercles and the black markings 

 were entirely unaffected, while the dulness or brightness of the 

 green ground colour certainly seemed to be influenced by dark or 

 light surroundings. While the great majority of Poulton's larvae 

 possessed the uniformly well-developed markings noted by Dixey, 

 in a few individuals these were only present in a very slight degree. 

 This variation in the colour of the tubercles appears not to be 

 confined in nature to any particular brood, or foodplant, or locality, for 

 Bowles notes (E?it. Rec.,\\., p. 225) both pink- and yellow-tubercled forms 

 of the larvae on Spiraea ulmaria in the Norfolk Broads in August, 1891. 

 Pupation. — The cocoon is spun up on or among the foodplant, 

 attached to stems on bushy plants of heather (Gordon) ; among the 

 tops of Calluna vulgaris and quite conspicuous at Ringwood (Fowler); 

 the cocoons are usually found in Ireland on the heather, sometimes 

 in places which must often be flooded in winter (Kane) ; found 

 cocoons on the summit of the Belmore mountain near Fermanagh, 

 in the autumn of 1897, where the ling was short and scanty, these 

 cocoons were placed almost on the ground, whilst those found on 

 the Lancashire moors are generally placed well above the ground 

 (Allen); a single cocoon on the slopes of a headland on the coast 

 of Co. Antrim, about 20 yards from the sea, on November 4th, 

 1898 (Greer); cocoons at the foot of hawthorn hedges, preferably 

 at the foot of low isolated bushes near end of hedge, at Enfield, 

 &c. (Bayne) ; made low down in hedges or placed in cracks in 

 garden walls in Namur district (Lambillion) ; cocoons are easily found 

 among the heather on the moors at Harrogate ; when the plants are 

 withered they are more readily seen, being either spun up on the 

 heather, or, as is frequently the case, loosely on the ground (Arbuth- 

 nott) ; cocoons spun up on branches of a short, thick, whitethorn 



