50 PACHNOBIA ALPINA. 



food, but though they fed a little, yet they began to 

 die off by threes and fours until all were dead. Their 

 natural food, Empetrum nigrum, I was unable to get. 

 This larva feeds up in May and June, and is in pupa 

 only a month. (W. B., 1878, Note Book III, 246). 



On June 17th, 1880, arrived two larvse of this 

 species, which I bought of Mr. T. W. Salvage, then at 

 Innerhadden, Kinloch-Rannoch, Perthshire, said to be 

 feeding on Empetrum nigrum, the Crowberry. They 

 were little more than one inch long, and I found 

 them eat whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), though 

 sparingly. On the 19th, I saw one, the largest of the 

 two, was soon about to moult ; this was a much lighter 

 variety and rather handsome. The other, a dark 

 variety, I figured on the 21st. 



It is of the usual Noctua form, cylindrical, tapering 

 at the second segment to the head, and also at the 

 13th segment. In colour it is dark velvety purplish- 

 brown above and pinkish-drab below; the head is 

 brown and glossy, having a corona of darker brown 

 freckles beginning on the crown, which are broadly 

 continued down the side at the back of each lobe in a 

 curve till they approach the ocelli ; on the second seg- 

 ment is a narrow crescentic velvety black-brown plate, 

 very finely dorsally and subdorsally divided with the 

 ground colour ; subdorsal fine pale drab lines rather 

 interrupted at the end of each segment, or, showing but 

 faintly and near the beginning of a segment, are 

 bordered above with a black dash, most conspicuous on 

 segments eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve ; the paler 

 ventral colouring commences along the spiracular 

 region, distinctly but not abruptly marked in any way ; 

 the spiracles are black ; a black- brown velvety plate is 

 on the anal flap ; the dorsal pattern is a top shape, 

 pointing backward, of dark purplish-brown, and a 

 central or dorsal spot of black at the beginning of each 

 segment; skin rather rugose. On the 23rd, after 

 moulting in the morning at ten o'clock, the largest 

 larva, which had been laid up for this event four days 



