AGROTIS RAVIDA. 23 



are to be found in soils congenial for their burrowing, 

 just below the surface, chiefly at the roots of thistles 

 and dandelion plants ; being full-fed from the begin- 

 ing to about the 20th of May. I found them feed 

 freely on the large milky leaves of dandelion, and 

 change to pupae in loosely-constructed cocoons of earth 

 from the 6th to the 20th of May. The larvae presented 

 three varieties of markings on the back, of a character 

 such as I have never before met with. 



Yar. 1. Larva yellowish-brown, slightly tapering 

 near the head, but almost of uniform thickness, and 

 cylindrical ; a thin dorsal line slightly paler than the 

 ground colour, and running through a dusky v-like 

 streak at the end of each segment after the fourth. 

 At the commencement of the fourth segment, on each 

 side, and close to the division, is a subdorsal ochreous- 

 yellow spot, which, on the fifth to the eleventh, 

 inclusive, has an almost confluent yellow wavy curved 

 streak, extending along two-thirds of each segment, 

 becoming less curved towards the twelfth, on which 

 they are straight, and slightly converging at the end 

 of that segment, where they are margined above with 

 dusky brown wedge-shaped streaks pointing forwards, 

 and a dusky edging above to the curved yellow streaks, 

 but gradually less intense towards the head on the 

 other segments. 



The sides and belly, with legs, brownish-grey ; a 

 paler greyish stripe freckled with dusky atoms above 

 the feet ; immediately above that are the spiracles, 

 minute and dirty white in a dusky blotch, which emits 

 an oblique dusky streak, extending to the subdorsal 

 marking of the segment in advance. Head grey, 

 mottled and streaked on the lobes and face with dusky 

 brown ; a dull brown plate on the second segment, 

 with slight indications of dorsal and subdorsal faint 

 lines through it. 



Looking on the back of this larva, the yellow marks 

 on each side are suggestive of a series of incompleted 

 horseshoe shapes. 



