MIMAS TILLE. 411 



are remnants of an ancestral character similar to the bright borders 

 of the stripes in the larva of Sphinx ligustri. Just before pupation 

 the colours of the larvae get dull ; in some the back darkens and 

 becomes bronze-green or -blue, the tubercles showing up as bright 

 specks. In the brood I reared, this change was not general; most 

 of the larvae became dirty-white previous to going to earth, and I 

 found, when changing their food, that the dark ones were much 

 more easily passed over than the light ones (Bacot). The larva 

 of M. tiliae varies considerably. In some the oblique lines almost 

 disappear. Occasionally, on either side of the body, six large, round, 

 black and white centred spots appear, those on the fourth segment 

 being the smallest, the remainder gradually increase, that on the ninth 

 segment being the largest ; an aberration of this kind is figured by 

 Esper (Die Sc hmett. , t. 45) ; this larva has also a faint spot on one side 

 of the third segment (Bartel). Larvae are not uncommon, blotched 

 with crimson on the borders of the oblique stripes. Buckler gives 

 (Larvae, &c, ii., pi. xx., figs. 3, 30, $b) figures of three very fine 

 forms of larva — fig. 3 of a fine bright pea-green tint with grey segmental 

 and subsegmental incisions, whitish oblique lateral stripes shaded 

 with dark grey anteriorly, caudal horn pale blue ; fig. 30 yellow- 

 green, with the subsegments of each segment marked transversely 

 with minute yellow dots, the oblique lateral stripes yellow, slightly 

 edged with reddish anteriorly, spiracles red-edged, caudal horn 

 blue with red tip ; fig. 3^ bright green laterally, dorsum of abdominal 

 segments strongly yellow, oblique lateral stripes yellow, with a heavy 

 red blotch anteriorly in contact with each, spiracles red-rimmed, 

 anal flap red. Anderson notes (Ent. Rec, ii., pp. 200 — 201) a 

 larva taken at Chichester, August 25th, 189 1, which, instead of 

 the normal green colour, was of a dingy violet shade. 



Pupation. — The larva generally goes underground for pupation, 

 but I have found the pupa hidden in rough chinks of the elm 

 bark, sometimes as high up as six feet from the ground (Hellins); 

 the larva spins a frail cell or cocoon, composed of earth spun 

 together with a few silk threads, the larva often burrowing to a 

 depth of several inches (Bacot) ; near Strood, a hollow in an old 

 elm, full of decayed leaf-material, was always certain to contain 

 several pupae, rarely enclosed in any very definitely made puparia 

 (Tutt) ; the larvae pupate just beneath the surface of the ground, 

 forming a very fragile cocoon, such spinning as there is being 

 very slender and delicate (Ransom) ; found high up on elm in 

 crevice of bark at Cirencester (Harmer) ; at foot of elm- and lime- 

 trees (Bartlett) ; dug September at Winchester and Southampton 

 (Moberly) ; pupae dug at the roots of large elms (Russell) ; mostly 

 under elm-trees, but discovered a pupa on April 14th, 1892, 

 embedded in the wood of a fallen elm-tree, like an egg in an 

 egg-cup, or an acorn in its cup, and another embedded in a stem 

 of ivy growing on a tree at about 10 feet from the ground (Studd) ; 

 barely covered with earth (Phillips) ; pupae at roots of elm at 

 Painswick (Watkins); under elm and lime in Bucks (Peachell) ; 

 pupate in the ground 2 inches deep at Namur (Lambillion) ; pupae 

 dug at elms on canal bank at Hythe, October, 1891 (Brown); 

 common in October, 1859, at roots of elm (Fenn) ; at Taunton, 

 pupae beneath the bark of elm 10ft. — 12ft. up, but never more 



