CELASTRIXA ARGIOLQS. 433 



but the larva was absent, it was usually found on the back of one of 

 the nearest ivy-leaves, and, apparently, in each case, in the act of 

 moulting. The larva appears to feed only at night ; when doing so, 

 its head is passed into the bud through a round hole eaten in the shell, 

 large enough for the neck, but not for the following segment, to enter; 

 this, consequently, presses closely upon the outside of the bud, whilst 

 the head moves to and fro inside it. In the case of a large larva, the 

 whole of the soft contents is devoured. The larval period, in August 

 or September, in the St. Leonards' district, seems to last from four to 

 six weeks (Adkin). On August 28th, 1905, Raynor found, at Haze- 

 leigh, eighteen larvae on the unexpanded flower-heads of a small-leaved 

 variegated ivy ; they were mostly full-fed, and frequented the flower- 

 heads singly, except in two instances in which he found two half-grown 

 larvae on a flower-head. The larva conceals itself admirably, and clings 

 very tightly to its foodplant. It seems very sluggish by day, and is 

 possibly a nocturnal feeder ; every one of these eighteen larvae pro- 

 duced a healthy pupa. Chapman observes that, in July, 1903, larvae 

 were abundant at Moncayo, on heath, apparently Erica arborea, the 

 larvae being of a dove-colour, with brown markings, and no trace of 

 green, and were very puzzling at first as to what they could be. Mathew 

 savs that from eggs laid August 15th-16th. 1906, larvae hatched 

 August 22nd, and immediately attacked the flower-buds of ivy. When 

 about half-grown they ate large holes in the buds in which they some- 

 times half buried themselves. He adds that it is very easy to see where 

 the larvae have been feeding, for they make a little round hole in a bud 

 and then move on to another and repeat the operation, and frequently 

 every bud in a flower-head is thus marked, whilst when fullgrown they 

 are rather conspicuous, as they sit on the buds quite exposed. As to 

 the appearance of very late larvae one may note — larvae of C. argiolus, 

 possibly those of a partial third brood, were received from Luff, on 

 October 12th, 1893, having been taken a few days previously in 

 Guernsey (Tutt). In 1906, Raynor took two C. argiolus larvae, at 

 Hazeleigh (on ivy flow T er-buds) on October 7th, and, in 1907, he 

 took two on October 19th, and two more on October 20th ; he 

 regarded these as having resulted from ova laid by a late 2 of 

 the summer brood, especially as, in the latter year, he noticed imagines 

 flying as late as September 4th. Larvae were beaten from ivy at 

 Bristol, on October 9th, 11th and 13th, 1869, all turned to pupae from 

 November lst-3rd, and, in that state, passed the winter ; one died, the 

 two others emerged in April, 1870 ; another, beaten from ivy at 

 Norwich, in September, 1870, pupated in due course (Wheeler). Other 

 dates noted are : Larvae taken September 4th, 1899, at Chalford (Red- 

 mayne); during the first w 7 eek of July, 1901, some 50 larvae of various 

 sizes were beaten from holly at Danbury, other larvae w T ere beaten, at 

 Weston, Herts, from ivy, on September 10th, 1901 (Raynor); larvae were 

 found on ivy-buds, from September lst-19th, 1901, at Bournemouth 

 (Robertson); discovered a number of half -grown larvae on ivy, at Ashford, 

 on September 25th, 1901 (Wood) ; young larvae were found at Dover, 

 on September 23rd, 1902, whilst larvae from the same place had all 

 pupated, in 1901, by September 21st (Colthrup); larvae found at Earl's 

 Colne, on October 9th, 1902 (Dennis); larvae were very late in 1902, 

 e.g., four halfgrowm larvae were beaten from a large ivy bush at Brad- 

 iield, near Dovercourt, on November 7th, 1902, three of which had 



