RURALIS BETUL.E. 289 



Turner says: "I have never seen the larvae move in daytime in 

 nature. They always sit on the underside of a leaf along the midrib, 

 and are most difficult to see ; they also appear to me to be advantaged, 

 when young, by their resemblance to a Syrphus, so that in a sense 

 they are doubly protected." Eussell, too, notes that, in Monk's Wood, 

 the larvae lie under a leaf during the day, the stunted blackthorn 

 bushes being the most productive, when beaten for larvae in June. 

 Rothschild also notes, that in Ashton Wold, the larvae appear to 

 frequent stunted bushes only. Oldaker observes that the larvae are 

 found on old blackthorns at Ashtead, and Rogers obtains them from 

 the old stunted blackthorns in the Tei^nmouth district. Heissler 

 states (in litt.) that, in the neighbourhood of Neuburg-a. D., the larvae 

 are to be found on sloe-bushes, preferably with a sunny position ; the 

 larvae keep to the underside of the leaves, not even changing their 

 position when feeding ; and the laziness of the larva is most notice- 

 able. He states that he rarely saw one in motion, or seeking a fresh 

 leaf, even when the one it was on had been more than half devoured. 

 Pabst says that, at Chemnitz, the larvae appear to emerge from the 

 egg in May, and rest on the underside of the leaves of Prunus 

 domestica and P. spinosa, but not on Betula. Fuchs says that, in the 

 Oberursel district, the larvae are to be found at the end of May, 

 together with those of Strymon pruni, on blackthorn, but, at this time, 

 are quite small, whilst those of the latter species are already almost 

 full-grown. Koch notes the larvae are often to be obtained in large 

 numbers on the outskirts of the " Hegwaldchen," and of the " Stadt- 

 wald," in Hesse, from sloe, and in gardens throughout the district on 

 apricot. Steinert says that Richter, the gardener to the court of 

 Saxony, states that, in the Luisium garden, he found the larvae on 

 " Amygdalus nana cum flore pleno." The larva is to be found on 

 plum and blackthorn in the Kingdom of Saxony, and is best obtained 

 by beating. The collectors of Meissen further note it as occurring on 

 birch. S'cbmid also finds the larvae on apricot, as well as plum and 

 sloe, in Bavaria, and Freyer observes that it is often to be found on 

 the latter plant in large numbers at Augsburg. Borkhausen, in 1788, 

 says that, in Germany, the larvae are found during May and June on 

 cherry, plum and peach, also on blackthorn and similar plants, but 

 rarely on birch. He adds that, according to Esper, the larva prefers 

 thin and ill-developed leaves to large and juicy ones. Caradja says 

 that, in Roumania, the larvae are to be beaten in May, from sloe and 

 Prunus padus. Blachier observes that, in the Geneva district, it is 

 found from about May 27th to June 25th on sloe, and that he once 

 found a larva on apricot in his own garden in Geneva. Lam billion 

 states that, in Belgium, the larva of this species is ordinarily not 

 rare towards the end of May and during June ; it is best obtained by 

 beating blackthorn bushes, and is very easy to rear. The following 

 are more detailed notes of the captures of larvae : — Continental 

 records : Larvae abundant in May and June, 1888, at Wiesbaden 

 (Prideaux) ; larvae, June 5th-20th, 1890, at Digne (A. H. Jones) ; 

 larvae abundant on sloe at Glion, above Montreux, June 27th, 

 1907, rather less than halfgrown ; also one picked up on a 

 cultivated plum twig, June 17th, at Brigue — all these had 

 commenced j to change colour by July 2nd (Prideaux). British 

 records : larvae beaten June 20th, 1858, from Prunus spinosa, in 



