MELTANA FLAMMEA. 33 



who, while collecting in the Norfolk fens, was interested 

 in the appearance of this larva, and took some home, 

 where they spun up in the heads of reeds, and yielded 

 the moth in the following spring. 



I found, just as I had been instructed by Mr. Fletcher, 

 that the larvse spent most of their time within the old 

 hollow stems of Arundo phragmites, several harbouring 

 together in a stem, wherein they lay stretched out at 

 full length, one beyond another, and came out at night 

 to feed on the leaves of fresh reeds, at first consuming 

 a tolerable quantity, then less by degrees till towards 

 the end of the month, when their feeding had entirely 

 ceased ; each stem was now stopped up by a diaphragm 

 or plug of pale whity-brown silk, spun across a little 

 within each end ; at the same time I became aware of 

 one larva having fastened two stems together that had 

 lain side by side among the leaves, and it had cleverly 

 utilised the situation by loosening a portion of the old 

 sheathing leaf from one of the stems, and after creep- 

 ing beneath this had, by means of silk threads, spun 

 it firmly on both stems as the covering and protection 

 of a sufficiently commodious puparium between them. 



On the 2nd of October, when about to place them 

 in a cage for the winter, I noticed a larva much con- 

 tracted in length, and fast approaching the pupal 

 change, lying loose amongst the leaves ; beneath these 

 at the bottom I presently found one had already 

 become a pupa, and was lying there naked and unat- 

 tached. 



The two last mentioned, as well as those spun up 

 in the stems, all disclosed fine and perfect specimens 

 of the insect in this present month of June ; the first 

 was bred on the 5th, and the last on the 15th. By 

 means of gentle forcing Mr. Fletcher succeeded in 

 producing the moth as early as the 1st of April, and 

 afterwards quite naturally and freely, rather in advance 

 of mine. 



A first view of the larva is very suggestive of an 

 immature Leucania, more, perhaps, of straminea than 



VOL. iv. 3 



