﻿524 
  

  

  BRITISH 
  LEPIDOPTERA. 
  

  

  of 
  Gentiana 
  asclepiadea, 
  but, 
  unfortunately, 
  did 
  not 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  make 
  

   any 
  description. 
  In 
  August, 
  1895, 
  he 
  says, 
  he 
  found 
  its 
  traces 
  commonly 
  

   on 
  the 
  above-named 
  plant, 
  near 
  Urfeld, 
  on 
  the 
  Walchensee, 
  in 
  situations 
  

   where 
  the 
  imago 
  was 
  still 
  flying, 
  but 
  the 
  larval 
  webs 
  were 
  either 
  all 
  

   empty, 
  or 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  yellow 
  cocoons 
  of 
  a 
  Microgaster. 
  The 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  larva 
  of 
  Freyer 
  (Neuere 
  Beitrdge, 
  vii., 
  p. 
  176) 
  as 
  being 
  found 
  at 
  

   the 
  commencement 
  of 
  May 
  on 
  Gentiana 
  verna,he 
  considers, 
  "may 
  equally 
  

   well 
  belong 
  to 
  coprodactyla." 
  One 
  is 
  not 
  quite 
  clear 
  as 
  to 
  this 
  paragraph, 
  

   for 
  reference 
  to 
  Treitschke's 
  original 
  account 
  (antea, 
  pp. 
  515-516) 
  shows 
  

   that 
  it 
  was 
  Freyer 
  himself 
  who 
  gave 
  the 
  latter 
  the 
  information 
  that 
  he 
  

   found, 
  near 
  Tegernsee, 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  graphodactyla, 
  living 
  in 
  spun-together 
  

   leaves 
  of 
  Gentiana 
  lutea, 
  ten 
  to 
  fifteen 
  examples 
  in 
  one 
  head, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  from 
  

   imagines 
  bred 
  from 
  these 
  larvae 
  that 
  the 
  species 
  was 
  named. 
  In 
  this 
  he 
  

   is 
  followed 
  by 
  Frey 
  (Die 
  Tin. 
  Pter. 
  Schweiz, 
  p. 
  413), 
  but, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  

   Frey, 
  evidently 
  from 
  first-hand 
  knowledge, 
  also 
  described 
  the 
  larva, 
  under 
  

   the 
  name 
  of 
  plagiodactylus 
  (op. 
  cit., 
  p. 
  412), 
  that 
  feeds 
  in 
  May 
  and 
  June 
  

   in 
  the 
  spun-together 
  leaves 
  of 
  Gentiana 
  asclepiadea, 
  as 
  belonging 
  to 
  

   this 
  species. 
  He 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  larva 
  draws 
  together 
  the 
  topmost 
  leaves 
  

   into 
  a 
  large 
  globular 
  mass, 
  so 
  that 
  affected 
  plants 
  are 
  somewhat 
  con- 
  

   spicuous. 
  These 
  larvae 
  are 
  green, 
  with 
  dark 
  mediodorsal 
  line, 
  covered 
  

   with 
  dark 
  long 
  stiff 
  bristles, 
  thickest 
  at 
  the 
  sides, 
  where 
  also 
  are 
  some 
  

   whitish 
  ones 
  ; 
  the 
  legs 
  green. 
  Later, 
  in 
  May, 
  1860, 
  Freyer 
  found 
  

   larvae 
  at 
  Deuringen, 
  near 
  Augsburg, 
  in 
  the 
  flowers 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  spring 
  

   gentian 
  (Gentiana 
  verna), 
  that 
  he 
  thought 
  were 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  those 
  he 
  

   had 
  found 
  in 
  June, 
  1828, 
  on 
  Gentiana 
  lutea. 
  Zeller 
  remarked 
  (Ids, 
  

   1841, 
  p. 
  841) 
  that 
  the 
  larvae 
  appeared 
  to 
  live 
  on 
  Gentiana 
  lutea 
  much 
  

   in 
  the 
  same 
  way 
  as 
  Pterophorus 
  hieracii 
  lives 
  on 
  its 
  foodplant 
  

   (Hieracium 
  laeviyatum). 
  These 
  various 
  notes 
  of 
  habits 
  of 
  larvae 
  

   feeding 
  on 
  Gentiana 
  lutea 
  (Freyer, 
  Frey, 
  and 
  Zeller), 
  G. 
  verna 
  

   (Freyer), 
  and 
  G. 
  asclepiadea 
  (Frey 
  and 
  Hofmann), 
  are 
  somewhat 
  

   puzzling. 
  The 
  foodplant 
  of 
  coprodactylus 
  is 
  G. 
  verna, 
  of 
  grapho- 
  

   dactyla 
  (the 
  first 
  reared) 
  is 
  G. 
  lutea, 
  of 
  var. 
  \meumonanthes 
  is 
  G. 
  

   pneumonanthe, 
  and 
  one 
  is 
  a 
  little 
  puzzled 
  as 
  to 
  these 
  insects 
  (see 
  

   Chapman's 
  remarks 
  on 
  the 
  imagines, 
  antea, 
  p. 
  523), 
  although 
  we 
  have 
  

   no 
  trouble 
  whatever 
  in 
  discriminating 
  coprodactylus 
  and 
  pneumonanthes. 
  

   Of 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  insect, 
  which 
  is 
  fairly 
  abundant 
  in 
  north 
  

   Germany 
  and 
  Holland, 
  and 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  taken 
  in 
  Switzerland 
  and 
  

   England 
  on 
  G. 
  pneumonanthe, 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  notes. 
  Thus 
  Chapman 
  

   writes 
  : 
  "I 
  received 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Gillmer 
  (November 
  1st, 
  1906) 
  a 
  

   parcel 
  of 
  shoots 
  of 
  Gentiana 
  pneumonanthe 
  ; 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  these 
  

   were 
  about 
  three 
  to 
  six 
  inches 
  long, 
  green 
  and 
  leafy 
  for 
  their 
  upper 
  

   half, 
  and, 
  like 
  a 
  similar 
  lot 
  examined 
  some 
  ten 
  days 
  ago, 
  not 
  one 
  

   of 
  these 
  leafy 
  examples 
  afforded 
  a 
  larva. 
  In 
  two 
  only 
  were 
  traces 
  that 
  

   might 
  have 
  been 
  those 
  of 
  " 
  plume 
  " 
  larvae 
  found; 
  in 
  both 
  of 
  these 
  the 
  

   mines 
  ended 
  on 
  the 
  lower 
  cut 
  end, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  larva 
  had 
  either 
  escaped 
  

   after 
  the 
  shoot 
  was 
  cut, 
  or 
  was 
  left 
  behind 
  in 
  the 
  root-portion. 
  One 
  

   portion, 
  however, 
  was 
  cut 
  much 
  lower 
  than 
  the 
  others, 
  and 
  consisted 
  

   of 
  several 
  shoots 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  upper 
  root-stock 
  ; 
  all 
  the 
  

   others 
  were 
  separate. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  shoots 
  was 
  about 
  an 
  inch 
  and 
  an 
  

   eighth 
  long 
  (29mm.), 
  tender 
  and 
  succulent 
  throughout, 
  and 
  with 
  only 
  

   a 
  faint 
  trace 
  of 
  green 
  on 
  the 
  unopened 
  leaf-bud 
  at 
  the 
  top. 
  The 
  older 
  

   shoots 
  were 
  often 
  very 
  woody. 
  In 
  this 
  little 
  shoot 
  was 
  a 
  mark 
  of 
  

   entry 
  about 
  8mm. 
  from 
  the 
  top, 
  thence 
  a 
  burrow 
  descended 
  in 
  nearly 
  

  

  