AGROTIS OINERBA. IS 



with about thirty ribs, some shorter than others, which 

 reach to a circular raised ring at the top ; the base of 

 the egg flat ; it is most minutely reticulated ; as it 

 matures, the colour changes to a very pale pinkish- 

 grey, and later a zone or ring of a deeper tint appears 

 round the base. 



As none of my eggs had hatched by June 22nd, I 

 will here record Mr. Fletcher's report of his larvae : 

 to the first ten that hatched he only gave Festuca 

 ovina as food, and they all starved on it ; since then 

 he gave others a further choice of Thymus serpyllum, 

 and they have thriven, and are up on the thyme every 

 morning. He writes : cc They are doing well on wild 

 thyme. When first hatched they are yellowish, with 

 very conspicuous black warts, each having a pin-shaped 

 bristle; in their second coat (after first moult) they 

 show faintly the usual lines." 



On the 29th June, Mr. Fletcher most generously 

 sent me one of the three larvse he had reared so far 

 on wild thyme ; this had just moulted a second time, 

 and measured over 4 mm. It was of the true Agrotis 

 form, stout for its length, and of green colour, like 

 the leaves of its food plant, showing a double dorsal 

 line enclosing the finest thread of paler, a pale thin 

 subdorsal line, edged above with a darker line ; after 

 a short interval a pale stripe follows, and at a greater 

 interval below is the broader pale spiracular stripe ; 

 the belly and legs less pale ; the tubercular fine dark 

 warty dots all in their usual situations ; the second 

 segment of a paler ground colour like the head, and 

 both more shiniug than the rest of the body ; by 

 degrees the green ground colour changed to purplish- 

 brown, which was quite noticeable on the 2nd of 

 July. 



By the morning of the 4th it had moulted a third 

 time, and had now a bigger head, which previously was 

 small; the colouring of the body was at first, for a time, 

 pale brown, but soon grew darker pinkish -brown ; all 

 details as before. It can be seen that the wart behind 



