252 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



branch of oleander, and some 52 larvae at Montpellier, in 1835, where 

 he had also taken 5 or 6 larvae in August, 1834, which produced ima- 

 gines at the end of September. Dormoy expresses the opinion that 

 the 1835 larvae resulted from immigrants of 1834, a very improbable 

 suggestion. Nowicki, of Thorn, in West Prussia, records (Preuss. Pro- 

 vinz.-Blatt., xiv., pp. 309-311 ; xv., pp. 511-514) the capture of a larva, 

 already past its 4th moult, on August 7th, 1835, as well as two smaller 

 ones, several others having been killed, as well as moths, rather 

 earlier in the year. He observes that the larvae only liked the 

 younger oleander leaves, but took readily to Vinca minor. Siebold 

 (loc. cit., xv., pp. 103-105) also records larvae and the successful 

 breeding of imagines therefrom at Dantzig, and adds that, in 1828, 

 he bred it at Berlin, that, in 1837, they were reported at Chartres 

 (Lesage), and yet appeared to be absent in the south of France. In 

 1839, Decellier records (Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1839, p. ix) 17 larvae taken 

 at Paris, in mid-September, 1887, in the Faubourg St. Antoine, on 

 cultivated oleanders, all had pupated by October 1st, except one which 

 died. The green colour of the larvae disappeared by degrees some days 

 before the change to pupae and the larvae became of a very deep brown 

 tint. The larvae and pupae were kept in the shade under a melon-frame, 

 and the 16 imagines appeared between October 7th and 20th. Lamek 

 reports (Z00L, p. 15 14) the capture of twenty larvae at the end of 

 August, 1846, at Flottbeck, near Hamburg. Moeschler notes that, in 

 1846, larvae were found in numbers on the oleanders in the " Russian 

 gardens " at Jankendorf, near Niesky ; Kranz observes that, at 

 Munich, the larvae pupate about the middle of August, whilst, in other 

 districts, the larvae are still to be found in September. Stein notes 

 (Iris, 1837, p. 104) the larvae as being bred commonly every year 

 from the oleanders in the gardens of Berlin, a statement that must 

 be received with great caution. Chaumette records (Zool., ix., p. 3159) 

 a larva taken on October 27th, 1844, from the Campagne Villamont 

 at Lausanne. In 1849, the larvae were again reported (Bull. Soc. 

 Ent. Fr., 1849, P- l xx v) as being very abundant in the gardens 

 of the Luxembourg (Pierret), and considerable numbers were also 

 found at Abbeville (Fairmaire). In 1852, Paris again notes (loc. 

 cit., 1852, p. li) that the larvae were in great numbers and the 

 oleanders much injured in the neighbourhood of Fourquex, whilst 

 the same year (loc. cit., p. lxxiii) the larvae reappeared at Epernay 

 and pupated successfully. In 1858 (loc. cit., 1858, p. xviii) a 

 number of larvae were found at Besancon from which a dozen pupae 

 were obtained (Bruand). Kiinckel reported (loc. cit., 1867, p. Ixii) 

 finding a larva at the end of August in the dept. of Aisne. In 

 1885, several were found in various parts of France, and, in 1886 (loc. 

 cit., p. lv), several larvae were found at Amiens in September. 

 Bartel notes (Pal. Gross-Schmett., ii., pp. 133-134): "The larvae 

 attain fullgrowth in from 3-4 weeks, and soon betray their presence 



on the plants by the quantity they have eaten They 



are to be found from April to June, and again from August to 

 October, mostly on Neriuni oleander, preferring the flowers ; they 

 grow with extraordinary rapidity, and are usually to be found in 

 some numbers on any plant on which eggs have been laid. Shortly 

 before pupating the larva runs about restlessly, and changes con- 

 siderably in colour. In central Europe the larvae frequently perish 



