XYLOPHASIA LITHOXYLEA. 55 



firm and continued assurance to the contrary of my 

 friend Mr. Doubled ay encouraged me to persevere, in 

 the hope of eventually distinguishing the one larva 

 from the other. 



Foiled year after year in my attempts to obtain 

 eggs from the moths imprisoned for that purpose, and 

 failing also to obtain them from friends, who could 

 naturally, perhaps, feel but little interest in these in- 

 sects of such common occurrence, I had to content 

 myself with those single examples of the larvae that 

 by chance occurred to myself, or were found and for- 

 warded to me by friends at distant intervals of time, 

 so that my investigation has unavoidably been of a 

 somewhat desultory nature, and, in addition, has often 

 been retarded, just when success seemed almost as- 

 sured, by the vexatious circumstance of the disclosure 

 of ichneumons in the place of moths. This last circum- 

 stance also gave rise in my mind to doubts as to 

 whether certain appearances, which I had figured and 

 noted, might not have been due entirely to the pre- 

 sence of parasites within the larva, and I felt compelled 

 to wait on for further observation of healthy larvse. 



Thanks to the kindness of the Eev. H. Williams, of 

 Croxton, my desire has been fulfilled, and my work in 

 this difficult matter accomplished during the season 

 now closing, and in the hope of interesting some of 

 the readers of this magazine I venture to submit my 

 notes of both species of larvse for publication ; at the 

 same time acknowledging the kindness of Mr. W. 

 Machin, who at the end of March, 1871, sent me two 

 larvse found by him at the roots of grass, and by so 

 doing, as the event has proved, helped me to both 

 species at once. 



Both species of larvse are alike in figure and struc- 

 ture, having tough, smooth, shining skins, and still 

 more lustrous dark heads, plates, and spots. They 

 are irritable in disposition, and this circumstance, 

 added to the lustre of their surface, renders very close 

 inspection necessary to arrive at their identification. 



