ANOHOCELIS LITURA. 69 



cylindrical, ending in a short pair of blunt spikes, 

 diverging from each other ; the colour a deep reddish- 

 brown. (W. B., June, 1872 ; E.M.M., IX, 39, July, 



1872.) 



Dasycampa rubiginea. 

 Plate LXXXIV, fig. 2. 



On March 21st, 1868, Mr. Thomas Terry, of Babbi- 

 combe, took a female at sallows, and shut her up in a 

 glass-topped box about six inches square, putting in for 

 her food a little plum-jam. On March 28th he saw two 

 eggs had been laid on the box ; on the 30th, three 

 more ; on April 1st, two more on the box, and four 

 on a sprig of blackthorn which he had supplied. These 

 were followed by three or four more, for which I have 

 no dates, and were all laid singly, on the underside 

 of a leaf, or under any little projection in the box. 

 How, after this again, the unhappy moth stuck in the 

 jam, and perished miserably with eighty-seven eggs 

 in her still unlaid ; how, of the few secured, bad luck 

 pursued nearly one-third, either before or just after 

 the hatching of the larvae, I will not relate at length ; 

 I mention these mishaps only to enhance Mr. Terry's 

 liberality in still sparing eggs and larvae to Mr. Buckler 

 and myself. 



The larvae were hatched between April 19th and 

 23rd ; fed freely on plum-leaves, and not so well on 

 sloe, sometimes taking to knot-grass, and became 

 full-fed from June 15th to 20th; and the moths 

 appeared between September 8th and 20th. 



The egg is unusually large for a Noctua, quite as 

 large as that of Xylocampa lithorhiza ; in shape round 

 and full above, but rather flattened below ; the sur- 

 face is glistening, and ornamented with more than 

 thirty slight longitudinal ribs, of which more than 

 half terminate before reaching the apex; these ribs 



