86 APAMEA GEMINA. 



APAMEA GEMINA. 



Plate LXVII, fig. 2. 



On the 28th of March, 1868, my friend Mr.Doubleday 

 kindly sent me a larva about an inch long, found at 

 night in Epping Forest, which, unfortunately, soon 

 after died from ichneumons, and the figure taken of 

 it remained an enigma until 1872, when its identity 

 was determined by the appearance of gemina from a 

 similar larva, found by the Rev. H. Williams, of 

 Croxton, while searching for larvae of its congener 

 unanimis under grass sods in a loose and damp soil 

 on December 12th, 1871 ; although so much smaller 

 than the one above mentioned, being only three-eighths 

 of an inch long at that date, yet I saw at once it was 

 of the same species, possessing the same distinguishing 

 characters which continued unchanged till its maturity. 



Though supplied with plenty of grasses from time 

 to time it persistently kept itself coiled round and 

 nestled amongst the soil at the roots, showing no dis- 

 position to feed until the 27th of February, 1872, 

 when it came out and moulted on the grass, and then 

 began to feed on Phalaris arundinacea : having soon 

 after increased in length to seven-eighths of an inch 

 it again moulted, and by March 18th reached its full 

 growth, when I found it would eat Poa annua or 

 Triticum rep ens quite as well as the ribbon-grass, but 

 it was not a great eater ; on the 24th it retired to 

 earth, and the moth, a female, emerged on June 12th, 

 a dark and handsome variety, the remissa of Haworth. 



This larva, when full grown, was one inch and five- 

 eighths in length, cylindrical, of moderate and almost 

 uniform stoutness, tapering but little at either end, 

 the head rounded. In colour it was brownish-grey, 

 finely striated longitudinally with a darker tint of the 

 same; the dorsal line yellowish-white, uniform in 

 width throughout, and bordered with dark grey; the 



