﻿ADKINIA 
  BIPUNCTIDACTYLA. 
  

  

  345 
  

  

  Egglaying. 
  — 
  The 
  eggs 
  of 
  the 
  August 
  moths 
  are 
  laid 
  freely 
  on 
  the 
  

   flower-buds, 
  generally 
  between 
  the 
  florets, 
  or 
  between 
  the 
  florets 
  and 
  

   involucre, 
  none 
  on 
  the 
  leaves 
  or 
  stem. 
  Eggs 
  laid 
  between 
  August 
  

   23rd-28th, 
  1904, 
  commenced 
  to 
  hatch 
  on 
  August 
  31st 
  (Bacot). 
  

  

  Ovum. 
  — 
  Pale 
  yellow 
  in 
  colour, 
  a 
  rather 
  long 
  ovoid 
  in 
  shape, 
  with 
  

   flattened 
  sides 
  ; 
  for 
  so 
  small 
  an 
  egg 
  it 
  is 
  coarsely 
  sculptured, 
  in 
  some 
  

   places 
  with 
  an 
  irregular 
  cell 
  pattern, 
  in 
  others 
  with 
  rude 
  longitudinal 
  

   corrugations 
  ; 
  these 
  are 
  chiefly 
  on 
  the 
  sides 
  towards 
  the 
  smaller 
  end, 
  

   the 
  cell 
  pattern 
  on 
  the 
  shoulders 
  and 
  micropylar 
  end. 
  Length, 
  

   0-475mm. 
  to 
  0-5mm. 
  ; 
  width, 
  about 
  025mm. 
  ; 
  as 
  I 
  cannot 
  manage 
  to 
  

   balance 
  the 
  egg 
  on 
  its 
  edge, 
  I 
  can 
  only 
  guess 
  at 
  its 
  thickness, 
  but 
  this 
  

   is 
  probably 
  about 
  0-2mm. 
  [Bacot, 
  July 
  27th, 
  1904. 
  Several 
  eggs 
  laid 
  

   in 
  a 
  small 
  cluster, 
  forwarded 
  from 
  Folkestone 
  by 
  Purdey.] 
  Clear 
  

   yellow 
  in 
  colour, 
  form 
  ovoid 
  ; 
  length, 
  0*45mm. 
  ; 
  width, 
  0-24mm., 
  

   narrowing 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  acutely 
  to 
  the 
  non-micropylar 
  end 
  ; 
  height, 
  

   0-21mm. 
  towards 
  micropylar 
  end, 
  a 
  little 
  less 
  towards 
  nadir. 
  The 
  

   ribs 
  are 
  very 
  bold, 
  but 
  the 
  pattern 
  is 
  not 
  polygonal, 
  at 
  least 
  the 
  cells 
  

   tend 
  to 
  run 
  together 
  into 
  longitudinal 
  waved 
  furrow 
  T 
  s, 
  i.e., 
  in 
  somewhat 
  

   sinuous 
  lines 
  from 
  end 
  to 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  egg. 
  The 
  ribs 
  are 
  not, 
  as 
  is 
  usual, 
  

   like 
  fine 
  beads 
  laid 
  on, 
  but 
  are 
  merely 
  the 
  tops 
  where 
  the 
  regularly-curved 
  

   hollow 
  of 
  one 
  furrow 
  meets 
  the 
  next 
  one. 
  Towards 
  the 
  micropylar 
  

   end, 
  or 
  rather 
  just 
  on 
  it, 
  and 
  round 
  the 
  micropylar 
  area, 
  the 
  sculpture 
  

   is 
  in 
  more 
  ordinary 
  polygonal 
  pattern. 
  [Described 
  August 
  25th, 
  1904. 
  

   Eggs 
  laid 
  by 
  $ 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  before.] 
  Some 
  eggs 
  laid 
  August 
  29th, 
  

   differed 
  somewhat 
  from 
  these, 
  smooth 
  and 
  shining, 
  the 
  sculpturing 
  

   was 
  much 
  less 
  pronounced, 
  and 
  the 
  hollows 
  were 
  here 
  represented 
  by 
  

   mere 
  flattenings; 
  they 
  were 
  also 
  somewhat 
  shorter 
  than 
  the 
  others, 
  

   viz., 
  0-40mm. 
  The 
  height 
  was 
  0-21mm. 
  towards 
  the 
  micropylar 
  end, 
  

   0-19mm. 
  towards 
  the 
  nadir 
  (Chapman). 
  

  

  Habits 
  of 
  larva. 
  — 
  From 
  eggs 
  laid 
  in 
  August 
  and 
  September, 
  

   hybernating 
  larvae 
  hatch, 
  the 
  autumn 
  habits 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  practically 
  

   unknown, 
  but, 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  spring, 
  the 
  larvae 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  actively 
  

   boring 
  into 
  the 
  main 
  central 
  stem, 
  clearing 
  out 
  the 
  leaf-bud, 
  and 
  going 
  

   down 
  for 
  some 
  distance, 
  even 
  below 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  ground. 
  On 
  May 
  

   23rd, 
  1904, 
  in 
  Raindene 
  Wood, 
  Folkestone, 
  the 
  young 
  scabious 
  plants 
  

   had 
  begun 
  to 
  make 
  good 
  growth, 
  and 
  were 
  some 
  six 
  inches 
  above 
  the 
  

   ground, 
  and, 
  in 
  these 
  scabious 
  plants, 
  larvae 
  of 
  A.bipunctidactyla 
  were 
  not 
  

   uncommon. 
  They 
  were 
  feeding 
  in 
  the 
  central 
  shoot, 
  mining 
  down 
  the 
  

   length 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  central 
  leaves, 
  eating 
  out 
  the 
  bud 
  and 
  into 
  the 
  shoot, 
  

   causing 
  considerable 
  lateral 
  growth, 
  and 
  filling 
  up 
  their 
  burrows 
  with 
  

   dark, 
  thick, 
  frass. 
  The 
  affected 
  shoots 
  were 
  easily 
  recognised, 
  when 
  

   found, 
  by 
  their 
  dark 
  colour, 
  and, 
  generally, 
  by 
  a 
  hole 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  part 
  

   of 
  the 
  two 
  leaves, 
  which 
  close 
  over 
  the 
  central 
  shoot, 
  by 
  which 
  hole 
  

   they 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  entered 
  rather 
  earlier, 
  when 
  leaving 
  their 
  hvber- 
  

   nacula. 
  Pulling 
  these 
  leaves 
  apart, 
  at 
  once 
  discloses 
  their 
  workings, 
  

   the 
  larvae 
  being 
  generally 
  fairly 
  well 
  down 
  in 
  the 
  mine, 
  and 
  of 
  various 
  

   sizes, 
  from 
  about 
  4mm. 
  to 
  9inm. 
  (i.e.. 
  nearly 
  fullgrown), 
  and 
  very 
  

   variable 
  in 
  colour. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  mines 
  were 
  quite 
  cleared 
  out, 
  and 
  the 
  

   larva 
  was 
  then 
  found 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  adjacent 
  lateral 
  shoots, 
  which 
  it 
  

   appeared 
  to 
  have 
  entered 
  from 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  enclosing 
  Leaves. 
  

   Although 
  one 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  larva 
  as 
  a 
  burrower, 
  it 
  really 
  feeds 
  entirely 
  on 
  

   the 
  leaves 
  forming, 
  and 
  enclosing, 
  the 
  bud, 
  but 
  does 
  so 
  entirely 
  from 
  the 
  

   inside. 
  It 
  is 
  hardly 
  a 
  burrower 
  in 
  the 
  sense 
  that 
  the 
  Platyptiliid 
  larva 
  

   are. 
  Barrett 
  says 
  he 
  found 
  larvae 
  on 
  May 
  19th. 
  1871, 
  near 
  Norwich, 
  

  

  