AGLOSSA PINGUINALIS. 31 



grasses and herbage grown on the canal banks, 

 amongst which could be distinguished the seed heads 

 of Holcus lanatus ; quantities of this chaffy rubbish 

 filled the chinks, and lay about on all the ledges with 

 a thick matting of dust, and from a farrago of this 

 nature they stirred out two or three of the larvae. 

 They carried home five or six cocoons, and in a day 

 or two bred two of the moths, and sent the remaining 

 cocoons to me, and I also bred from them two A, 

 pinguinalis on the 14th and 19th of July, whilst from 

 the larvae I had myself found, the moths continued to 

 appear from the 25th of July to the 7th of August. 



From these observations I think it will be seen 

 that the larvae live in comparative darkness — in 

 stables, barns, and outhouses, amid accumulations of 

 the rubbish above mentioned, hidden within a protect- 

 ing sheath or gallery nearly or quite close to the 

 ground, composed of materials in which they find 

 both their food and their covering; unless disturbed 

 they are never to be seen whilst growing, as they do 

 not voluntarily leave their abodes until full-fed, but 

 then only do they desert their quarters, and may oc- 

 casionally be observed ascending walls to find a suit- 

 able place for pupation. 



The egg of A. pinguinalis is of a good size for the 

 moth, of a roundish-oval form, almost globular, though 

 there is a bigger and a smaller end ; the shell, dull 

 and granulated all over, is whitish or creamy- white ; 

 a few hours before hatching a light brownish patch 

 shows through one end of the shell, and a very faint 

 pinkish-grey tint on other paints. 



The newly hatched larva is of a very pale whitish 

 flesh-colour, with yellowish-brown head, and plate 

 separated from it by a margin of pale skin, and a 

 similar brown plate is on the anal flap. When twelve 

 days old the internal vessels appear full of food, and 

 as the size increases the alimentary canal acquires 

 more and more of a dark grey colour, showing very 

 plainly through the clear almost colourless skin. 



