62 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



more those of the shrub- feeding larvae among the blues— Celastrinids, 

 Lampidids, etc. In spite of the difference exhibited between these and 

 the larvae of the Strymonids and Ruralids, the latter resemble them 

 in retaining a semi- boring habit when young, although, as they get 

 older, they fail to maintain it as do the larvae of the Callophryid 

 species. The "hairstreak" larvae are, however, all slow and lethargic 

 in their movements, with marked cryptic coloration. They have also 

 purely spring and early summer feeding-habits, and, whilst the 

 Thestorid and Callophryid larvae hatch in spring from eggs laid only 

 a few days previously, and then feed up rapidly for the purpose of 

 going over the winter as pupae, those of the Strymonids and Ruralids, 

 curled-up in the egg-shell all the winter, hatch in spring, and feed up 

 moderately quickly, producing imagines which, in due course, lay 

 eggs that again pass over the winter. 



Judged by our only Palaearctic Callophryid, Callophrys rubi, the 

 larva, probably like those of the Thestorids, was originally confined to 

 leguminous plants. Be that as it may, it now ranges over a con- 

 siderable variety of food-plants ; it evidently prefers flowers, but will, 

 on occasion, attack leaves and fruits ; when feeding, it buries its head 

 into the tissues of its food, the smallness of the head and neck greatly 

 facilitating the habit. But its habits may be greatly varied, e.g., it 

 may bore into the flowers of Calycotome spinosus, Ulex nanus, Genista 

 tinctoria, G. anglica, Lotus major, L. comic ulatus, Helianthemum 

 vulgare, etc., or feed on the flowers and leaves of Erica tetralix, or bore 

 into the young shoots of Ledum, palustre, hollow out the flower- buds of 

 bramble,range over the corolla, stamens and ovary of the blossom of Vac- 

 cinium myrtillus, as well as feed on the very young leaves, bore into, and 

 clear out the contents of, the immature berries of Rhamnus catharticus, ]ust 

 as do the larvae of Celastrina argiolus, or the berries of Comus sanguinea, 

 which are hollowed out in the same way, and so on. 



This variation is very interesting when one compares the larval feeding- 

 habits of the various Nearctic Callophryid species therewith. Thus, 

 the young larva of Incisalia irus bores into the flowers of Lupinus 

 perennis, devouring the stamens, pistil and corolla, and, according to 

 Cook {Can. Ent., xxxviii., p. 143), hides quite within the flower, after- 

 wards feeding on the seeds by boring into the pod from outside. This is 

 very similar to the habit of the larva of C. rubi when feeding on legu- 

 minous plants. Again, the young larva of Incisalia augustus, eats an 

 irregular hole into the flower of Vaccinium corymbosum, into which it 

 crawls, feeding upon the stamens and maturing ovary, its resemblance 

 to the lower part of a stamen being very striking ; by the time the 

 corolla has fallen the larva has turned green, and it then feeds openly by 

 boring into the fruit, eating voraciously, making a hole in the side of 

 each berry, attacking and eating only the interior. This appears to be 

 almost precisely what the larva of C. rubi does on Vaccinium. myrtillus. 

 Edwards reared (Papilio, i., pp. 150-2) the larvae of Incisalia henrici to 

 maturity on wild plums, the young larva at once making its way up 

 the stalk and fastening on the young plum, boring into it, just as the 

 larva of Celastrina pseudargiolus bores into a bud, a hole being eaten out 

 large enough for the head to enter, and thereafter the caterpillar spends 

 most of its time with its head in the cavity ; when half-grown, it 

 seems to have its head and shoulders buried, and was never observed 

 to withdraw them, though looked at frequently. Cutting open the 



