RURALIS BETUL.E. 287 



May 25th I counted 31 larvae, and noted that they vere growing very 

 slowly. This, unfortunately, is the only note I appear to have made con- 

 cerning this brood." Raynor says that, in nature, in Essex, the 

 larvae do not appear to hatch until May, and are usually very small at 

 the end of the month, and are fullfecl from June 15th-20th ; but Roths- 

 child says that, in Ashton Wold, they are not fullfed until the beginning 

 -of July, and we have some this year (1907) not yet quite fullfed on 

 July 14th, whilst others are now pupating. Wood observes, that in 

 nature, the species appears to haunt only the stunted bushes of its 

 foodplant ; in nature it appears to eat only just after daybreak 

 and before sunset, and, from just after entering its second stadium, it 

 feeds from the edges of a leaf, eating out large crescent-shaped patches, 

 but seldom devouring the whole of a leaf ; in the wild state it rests 

 during the greater part of the day and night on the underside of a leaf 

 of the foodplant, with head towards the base of the leaf ; it is difficult 

 to see in this position, assimilating, as it does, so well with the leaf. 

 In confinement, as with so many other butterfly larvae, it changes its 

 habits considerably, and frequently feeds during the middle of the day, 

 resting sometimes, as in nature, on the underside of a leaf, and often along 

 the stem of the plant ; it is usually fullfed at the end of June or early 

 in July ; the fullfed larva moves very slowly, grips lightly, and when 

 beaten into a tray, falls very flat, at full length, remaining motionless 

 for nearly a full minute. Hellins particularly notes that a larva that 

 he was rearing in 1885, moulted on June 18th, and did not eat its cast 

 skin. Newman says the larva generally conceals itself beneath the 

 leaves, and, when fullfed, rests in a flat position on the surface of a leaf 

 with its head, legs, and claspers concealed, and does not abandon this 

 position readily, and, when compelled to do so, it falls about three 

 inches, and hangs by a thread. Our own observations suggest that 

 there is little to be said about the habits of the fullgrown larva of 

 which we have at the present moment (July 4th, 1907) some eight 

 examples under observation. As has already been noted, it distinctly 

 prefers the underside of the leaf on which to rest, remains absolutely 

 •at rest all day if not disturbed, flattens itself against the resting 

 surface until the lateral flange looks like a sort of raised marginal ruff, 

 and, when it crawls, moves so slowly that one hardly recognises the 

 movement ; it is not particular as to its position, but usually rests 

 lengthwise, parallel with, more often than on, the midrib, and its head 

 generally towards the petiole. If a leaf be too small to accommodate 

 it, it will spin an adjacent leaf loosely to the one it first selected rather 

 than move to a larger one. Its mode of feeding is varied, and depends 

 upon its position. If the larval head be in the middle of a leaf it 

 gnaws through, first exposing its head, and then eating a more or less 

 circular hole until the margin is reached, and continues until it has 

 satisfied its hunger. If it be near the edge it will commence there ; 

 sometimes it begins towards the apex, at others towards the base, 

 dependent on which way the head of the larva is pointing. It readily 

 drops if disturbed, and its grip at any time on its foodplant is com- 

 paratively slight. It does not seem to be particular as to the species 

 of Prunus offered for food, but an attempt to force four larvae to feed 

 on Betula led to two leaving the plant and resting for 24 hours on the 

 paper beneath the jar covering them, one other to the jar itself, whilst 

 the fourth appears to have eaten a fairly large piece out of a small leaf, 

 at least the missing part was not noticed when the leaves were offered. 



