﻿324 
  

  

  BRITISH 
  LEPIDOPTERA. 
  

  

  Lambillion 
  notes 
  (Rev. 
  Mens. 
  Soc. 
  Ent. 
  Namur, 
  1904, 
  pp. 
  50-51) 
  that 
  

   the 
  larva 
  rests 
  lengthwise 
  on 
  the 
  branches 
  of 
  the 
  foodplant, 
  its 
  head 
  

   raised. 
  It 
  appears 
  sluggish, 
  its 
  movements 
  are 
  very 
  slow, 
  and, 
  at 
  the 
  

   least 
  touch, 
  it 
  falls 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  ; 
  when 
  it 
  wishes 
  to 
  feed, 
  it 
  crawls 
  

   into 
  the 
  angles 
  of 
  the 
  floral 
  stems, 
  attacks 
  a 
  capsule, 
  generally 
  from 
  

   below, 
  eating 
  with 
  rapidity 
  ; 
  sometimes, 
  after 
  its 
  meal, 
  it 
  rests 
  near 
  the 
  

   attacked 
  capsule, 
  but 
  more 
  often 
  goes 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  stem. 
  He 
  says 
  that 
  

   its 
  colour, 
  size, 
  and 
  form 
  make 
  it 
  astonishingly 
  like 
  the 
  stems 
  and 
  

   flowers 
  of 
  the 
  foodplant, 
  and 
  it 
  wants 
  a 
  keen 
  eye 
  to 
  discover 
  it 
  ; 
  so 
  

   difficult 
  is 
  this, 
  that, 
  after 
  having 
  carefully 
  examined 
  the 
  stems 
  of 
  a 
  

   bunch 
  of 
  flowers 
  with 
  a 
  lens, 
  and 
  failed 
  to 
  find 
  larvae, 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  

   some 
  days 
  afterwards, 
  when 
  almost 
  adult. 
  One 
  suspects, 
  however, 
  that 
  

   this 
  is 
  due 
  less 
  to 
  the 
  protective 
  resemblance 
  exhibited 
  than 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that, 
  by 
  this 
  time, 
  they 
  have 
  left 
  the 
  inside 
  of 
  the 
  capsules, 
  and 
  have 
  

   become 
  external 
  in 
  their 
  habits. 
  Schmid 
  observes 
  (Berl. 
  Ent. 
  Zeits., 
  

   viii., 
  p. 
  65) 
  that 
  the 
  larva 
  lives 
  from 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  July 
  till 
  September, 
  

   commonly, 
  in 
  many 
  places, 
  on 
  Erythraea 
  centaurium, 
  usually 
  in 
  the 
  

   green 
  seed-capsules, 
  which 
  it 
  empties 
  ; 
  the 
  light-brown 
  frass 
  that 
  is 
  

   thrown 
  out 
  revealing 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  larva. 
  He 
  says 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  

   possible, 
  by 
  selecting 
  the 
  affected 
  plants, 
  for 
  one 
  to 
  collect 
  comparatively 
  

   few 
  plants, 
  and 
  obtain 
  daily 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  larvae 
  which 
  are 
  about 
  to 
  

   leave 
  the 
  capsules 
  for 
  pupation, 
  and 
  that, 
  even 
  after 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   imagines 
  have 
  emerged, 
  and 
  pupae 
  of 
  various 
  ages 
  are 
  obtainable, 
  

   larvae 
  still 
  continue 
  to 
  come 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  capsules. 
  This 
  was 
  probably 
  

   the 
  origin 
  of 
  Kaltenbach's 
  note, 
  that 
  the 
  larvae 
  feed 
  in 
  the 
  green 
  

   seed-capsules, 
  eating 
  the 
  contents, 
  and 
  keeping 
  well 
  concealed, 
  but 
  

   protruding 
  yellowish 
  -brown 
  frass. 
  Schmid, 
  however, 
  in 
  1887, 
  

   records 
  {hep. 
  Faun. 
  Regensb., 
  p. 
  202) 
  that 
  he 
  discovered 
  the 
  

   larvae 
  feeding, 
  not 
  only 
  on 
  the 
  flowers 
  and 
  green 
  capsules 
  of 
  

   Erythraea 
  centaurium, 
  but 
  that 
  he 
  found 
  many 
  more 
  later, 
  on 
  

   Gentiana 
  germanica. 
  Rossler 
  also 
  notes 
  it 
  as 
  feeding, 
  in 
  Nassau, 
  on 
  

   the 
  flowers 
  and 
  seeds 
  of 
  Erythraea 
  centaurium, 
  and 
  refers 
  to 
  Schmid 
  

   having 
  also 
  bred 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  green 
  capsules 
  of 
  Gentiana 
  germanica. 
  

   Sorhagen 
  records 
  that, 
  in 
  Brandenburg, 
  it 
  feeds 
  in 
  the 
  seed-capsules 
  

   of 
  Erythraea 
  littoralis 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  E. 
  centaurium. 
  Steudel 
  and 
  Hofmann 
  

   observe 
  that, 
  in 
  Wurttemberg, 
  the 
  larvae 
  live 
  very 
  much 
  concealed, 
  

   eating 
  out 
  the 
  green 
  capsules 
  of 
  E. 
  centaurium 
  till 
  they 
  are 
  quite 
  empty, 
  

   the 
  ejected 
  excrement 
  betraying 
  their 
  presence. 
  Hofmann 
  notes 
  {Die 
  

   Deutsch. 
  PteropJi., 
  p. 
  82) 
  that 
  "the 
  larvae 
  live 
  in 
  July 
  and 
  in 
  September, 
  

   in 
  the 
  blossoms 
  of 
  Erythraea 
  centaurium 
  and 
  Gentiana 
  germanica." 
  The 
  

   time, 
  at 
  which 
  larvae 
  maybe 
  found, 
  appears 
  to 
  depend 
  on 
  the 
  season, 
  and, 
  

   in 
  different 
  seasons, 
  may 
  extend 
  from 
  late 
  June 
  until 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  Septem- 
  

   ber 
  or 
  beginning 
  of 
  October. 
  Until 
  the 
  flowering 
  shoots 
  of 
  Erythraea 
  

   centaurium 
  are 
  well 
  formed, 
  and 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  brood 
  fairly 
  well- 
  

   grown, 
  nothing 
  whatever 
  is 
  known 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  larva, 
  except 
  the 
  

   statement 
  of 
  Fletcher, 
  already 
  noted, 
  that, 
  until 
  the 
  second 
  moult, 
  the 
  

   young 
  larvae 
  mine 
  the 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  foodplant. 
  The 
  variation 
  in 
  the 
  

   length 
  of 
  larval 
  life 
  is 
  considerable, 
  and 
  hence 
  the 
  two 
  recognised 
  

   broods 
  overlap, 
  whilst 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  a 
  partial 
  third 
  brood 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  

   all 
  remote. 
  Jeffrey 
  notes 
  (Ent. 
  Mo. 
  Mag., 
  ii., 
  p. 
  165) 
  that, 
  near 
  

   Saffron 
  Walden, 
  towards 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  August, 
  1865, 
  he 
  found 
  larvae 
  

   feeding 
  on 
  seeds 
  of 
  Erythraea 
  centaurium, 
  growing 
  in 
  a 
  wood 
  ; 
  these, 
  

   however, 
  were 
  late 
  examples, 
  as 
  imagines 
  were 
  already 
  on 
  the 
  wing. 
  

  

  