478 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



very much more distinct and broader than the others, the subdorsal 

 is much less distinct than in the first stadium ; the caudal horn is 

 pale yellow, looks long, but this appearance ot length is really 

 due to the shortness of the body ; the mammillae or bases of sha- 

 green hairs appear to be less numerous than in the larvae of M. tiliae 

 and S. ocellata, at any rate they are less noticeable. Third stadium : 

 The larva is very short and thick, much larger than those of M. 

 tiliae and S. ocellata are after the 2nd moult, in fact as large as 

 is M. tiliae after its third moult. The head is broader, "the cheeks 

 somewhat prominent ; four rather large mammillary elevations on 

 the apex of the head, two on each lobe, but these are much smaller 

 than the similar processes on the larval heads of M. tiliae and 

 S. ocellata ; the mammillae or shagreen hair-bases scattered over 

 the dorsal area much larger in front of the 1st pair of oblique stripes 

 than are those behind them ; the subdorsal stripes very faint, 

 altogether wanting behind the 4th abdominal segment, and usually 

 all trace of them is lost after the next moult; the 1st and 7th 

 pairs of oblique stripes are much broader and more conspicuous 

 than any of the others, the mammillae on them being so large 

 and so closely crowded together that they are ridges rather than 

 lines ; the caudal horn is still slightly bifid, each tip surmounted 

 by one long hair. Fourth stadium ; Still stouter and heavier- 

 looking than the larva of <S. ocellata, but the difference between 

 the larvae not nearly so marked in the adult as in the earlier stages. 

 The head somewhat smaller than that of ,S. ocellata, broader, and 

 not so pointed ; the 2nd to 6th oblique lateral stripes are well- 

 marked, the 1st and 7th not standing out so markedly stronger 

 than they, and there is a sign of a dark border in front of the 

 stripes, chiefly confined to the 2nd to 6th pairs ; the caudal horn 

 is short and thin, is not so stiff or curved as that of ^. ocellata, 

 and is not bifid ; there was no trace observed of forked hairs in 

 this stadium. The larvae had only three moults, one less than 

 those of M. tiliae and ,5. ocellata (Bacot). The newly hatched larvae 

 (July 3rd) are of the tenderest tint of green, with very long caudal 

 horn * ; the larvae grew rapidly, whilst the horn remained of same 

 size, hence they appeared more proportionate in length ; on July 

 6th the pale yellowish oblique side stripes were already visible, 

 also a yellowish subdorsal stripe and spots on the back of the 

 thoracic segments ; the skin likewise assumed its rough character. 

 On July nth most had moulted the Jirst time and were half an inch 

 in length, and their skin was now rough with innumerable raised 

 points ; the whitish, slanting side stripes were most conspicuous 

 on the tenth and fifth segments, that on the fifth extending to the 

 end of the dorsal part of the sixth segment, and that on the tenth 

 reaching to the base of the twelfth segment ; these two were 

 stouter stripes than the rest, which were but thin lines. On the 

 14th of July most of the larvae had moulted the second time, and their 

 increase in size and more bluish-green tint were remarkable ; in 



* One larva that had eaten the greater part of its eggshell waited by the 

 remains of the shell apparently to digest its meal, and, in the meantime, its long 

 tail began to wither at the end for more than half its length, and then shrivelled 

 and turned blackish at the point of the round portion, which eventually proved 

 to be the tip of the caudal horn, all beyond falling away (Buckler). 



