COLLECTING BUTTERFLY LARV2E. 49 



surrounded by the herbage of the fen districts to which it is almost 

 absolutely restricted in Britain. 



September. — The young larvae of Polyommatus icarus make little, 

 pale, transparent blotches on the leaflets of Lotus corniculatus, 

 Ornithopus perpusillus, etc., the paleness being due to the eating away 

 of the soft parts of the leaf, and leaving only the transparent skin. 

 Still more common in July. 



Sleeve larvae of Apatura iris out on sallow, so that they can rest on 

 a thick branch ; they must be removed from the sleeves every day, till 

 they settle down on a twig, as none ever hybernate successfully if left 

 on the sleeve. 



Larvae of Pyrameis cardui and P. atalanta, found in September and 

 October, will pupate and emerge the same year ; they must, therefore, 

 be kept under artificial conditions, and care taken of them, both as 

 regards temperature and food, to ensure success. The species will 

 not hybernate as larvae or pupae under any conditions. 



The larvae of Pararge egeria can be reared, in confinement, on 

 Dactylis glomerata, etc. ; they appear to nibble throughout the winter, 

 and to pupate as soon as there is any mild weather in the spring, often 

 at the commencement of April (sometimes this species passes the winter 

 as pupa). 



The young larvae of Colias hyale (obtained from eggs laid by 

 confining 2 s on clover plants, exposed to the sun), feed slowly 

 the end of October, when they become dormant and hybernate. In 

 confinement, they do this best by removal from the foodplant, and by 

 being placed in a chip-box covered with muslin ; they must be protected 

 from frost, and kept at a temperature of about 40°F.-45°F. By the 

 middle of February, the larvae are again on the move, and should then be 

 placed on growing plants of clover, with plenty of young leaves, when 

 they will commence to feed again. They feed on slowly through 

 March and April, pupate in May, and the imagines emerge in about a 

 month. 



October. — In October, the larva of Cyclopides palaemon draws a 

 leaf of Brachypodium sylvaticum into tubular form around itself, lining 

 the inside carefully with white silk, and thus forms the hybernaculum, 

 in which it spends the winter. 



In late October and November, the hybernating larvae of Augiades 

 sylvanus, about 12mm. long, are to be found in their long, silken, 

 narrow, tough, close-fitting hybernacula. formed by spinning together 

 the edges of the green blades, the opaque webs being not much bigger 

 than the larvae ; in confinement, riband-grass forms a useful substitute 

 for the finer grasses ; the larvae commence feeding again in March, 

 and are fullfed about the end of May. 



Small larvae of Polyommatus bellargus are to be found in October 

 (and July) on the underside of the leaves of Hippocrepis comosa, eating 

 out the undersurface for a small space, but leaving the upper skin 

 untouched, which then turns white ; these little white dots or spots 

 show, therefore, where the larvae are at work; they feed slowly through 

 the winter, and the blotches are much larger by early February. In 

 March, the leaflets are eaten from the edge, and often demolished 

 entirely. 



The hybernaculum, in which the larva of Limenitis sibylla passes 

 the winter, may be placed three or four buds down from the tip of the 



