12 ACEONYCTA STRIGOSA. 



tubercles were of the yellow-green ground colour, even 

 those on the dorsal marking, though the bases of these 

 latter were blackish j the spiracles white, finely out- 

 lined with black. The head glossy, the second seg- 

 ment glistening slightly; a faint yellowish margin 

 bordered the dorsal marking. The tubercles on the 

 back each emit a few short hairs and one very long 

 hair of blackish colour, but those on the lower part of 

 the body were whitish, of varying lengths, radiating 

 and sweeping the surface on which the larva may 

 happen to be. The dorsal tubercles range across the 

 back of a segment in the direction of a convex curve, 

 quite a modification of the ordinary trapezoidal ar- 

 rangement. 



One larva at the penultimate moult was unable to 

 free itself from its old head-piece, which covered the 

 mouth and caused the larva to perish miserably of 

 starvation. 



One variety occurred after the last moult in which 

 the. whole skin of the larva was of the richest deep 

 velvety-purple, crimson-brown, relieved only slightly 

 by the shining black tubercles, with crimson tips, 

 though inconspicuous. 



When the larva is quite full-fed it becomes very 

 dingy, dark velvety-green, and the purplish-brown of 

 the back fades almost away ; the tubercular black spots 

 remain, and are conspicuous with a ring of paler green 

 at the base of each on the back, and in some, but not 

 in all, a paler greenish dorsal stripe appears. 



The first larva that was full-fed ate its way into a 

 piece of rotten wood for pupation on the 28th August ; 

 a second did so on the 30th ; at the same time the third 

 entered a piece of raspberry stem. 



On the 9th of September Mr. Ross sent me seven 

 larvae, all in their last coats ; one was full-fed and was 

 of a dove colour on the back, the sides a warm olive- 

 green, a faintly paler dorsal stripe showed in an inter- 

 rupted manner on the dorsal marking whilst the larva 

 was burrowing into rotten wood the next day. This 



