64 BEITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



or prominent vein, conceals them almost completely from view, even 

 when the eye is fastened upon them ; the long and slender form of 

 Anthocharis, with its striking longitudinal stripes, would seem to 

 render it a conspicuous object, but when seen upon the lank vegeta- 

 tion upon which it lives, beside the long-drawn seedpods, it would 

 hardly be noticed. Even the colour of the huge caterpillar of Jasoni- 

 ades glaums is such an exact imitation of that of the leaf upon which it 

 rests, and whose sides it has so turned up that no profile view may be 

 had of it, that it does not readily catch the eye." Of the protective 

 resemblance exhibited by a particular species of this class of larva 

 Chapman writes (in litt.) : "I do not know what is really the foodplant 

 of Leptidia sinapis, but I reared a few this year on Lathy j;us pratensis, 

 and, if the close assimilation of the larva to all aspects of its foodplant 

 is any criterion, then Lathyrus pratensis is the foodplant of L. sinapis. 

 More probably, however, the foodplant is some plant of similar habit 

 that less affects the open field. Such plants as Orobus tuberosus and 

 Vicia cracca do not appear to be quite apposite. The larva, for a 

 Pierid, is rather long and slender, and, stretched out along a stem, or 

 a petiole of a leaf, is extremely difficult to see, the coloration being 

 identical, the white stripe on the larva representing light and shade 

 effects on the plants. In changing the food of my few larvae, I had, 

 on several occasions, to go over the plants two and even three times 

 before I could find all the larvae. In the youngest larvae, the hairs 

 agree very closely in general aspect with those of the plant, greatly 

 increasing the difficulty of observing it. The youug larva of Iphiclides 

 podalirius, too, black, with yellow markings and very remarkable hairs 

 on the warts, must resemble something or other, but what is not self- 

 evident. In its second instar, however, it assumes practically the 

 adult colouring and markings, and, sitting quietly all day at rest on its 

 pad of silk, is hardly visible even on the middle of a leaf of black- 

 thorn." 



We were much struck this year with the appearance of a full- 

 grown larva of I. podalirius resting on a twig of blackthorn, which 

 so much resembled a leaf, that, after it was discovered and the branch 

 picked, we actually thought on one occasion, whilst carrying it, that 

 we had dropped it, and only a closer examination revealed it as still 

 there. Of similar cases, Sich observes (in litt.) : " The larva of 

 Euchlo'e cardamines among the pods of Sisymbrium alliaria, both in 

 shape and coloration, is very particularly attuned to its surroundings, 

 so also is that of Apatura iris on a sallow leaf in the open, and that 

 of Cupido minima among the calyces of Anthyllis rulneraria, and any 

 of these might readily be passed over even by an entomologist. Chap- 

 man further notes (in litt.): "I observed a young larva of Lampides boetica 

 resort to a device for hiding itself that must be not unusual with 

 it. In about its third instar (3mm. long or thereabouts) it was in the 

 open. At this stage it is very often buried in the interior of a 

 blossom, but this specimen was on a branch of Ule.r nanus, on which I 

 had watched a £ L. boetica lay an egg, and, quite accidentally, I observed 

 this larva after gathering the branch. The branch had no flowers, but 

 only buds, generally still of very small size. This larva had probably 

 fed on these buds, none of which were large enough to contain it. It 

 had placed itself along the upperside of a spine, with its head close 

 into the axillary hollow, and so, in position, form, size, and colouring, 

 it exactly resembled one of the small flower- buds, of which a good 



