118 BOTYS PANDALIS. 



and evidently liked their food so much better that 

 afterwards I kept all the larvae entirely on Teucrium, 

 and they throve on it remarkably well ; but this food 

 certainly seemed to influence their colouring, as they 

 were all very much paler than the brood of last year, 

 fed chiefly on other labiate plants. 



The larvae had constructed their first cases by the 

 25th of June, and I noticed some of these, as well as 

 one or two of a later period, varying from the usual 

 pasty-shape, and having a more fusiform outline ; 

 and for some time leaves of their food-plant furnished 

 the materials, until by accident a piece of honey- 

 suckle got introduced, and a case was cut from it ; 

 after that I made trial of other leaves, until the 

 preference seemed given to those of Bubus corylifolius, 

 from which latterly all the cases were fabricated. 



Early in July I established the larvae in a large 

 glass vessel holding plenty of Teucrium sprays 

 standing upright, secured at the top with stout un- 

 bleached calico, an arrangement allowing me to 

 watch, without disturbing, the shy little creatures ; 

 and I soon found that their habit was to remain 

 constantly hidden in the case, whether lying on the 

 surface of a leaf, or hanging, as they would for hours, 

 suspended from a leaf or a stem by a dirty coloured 

 thread half an inch or less in length ; and even when 

 desirous of feeding they put forth their anterior 

 segments only, for the purpose of reaching the part 

 of the leaf they meant to attack, and then im- 

 mediately, w T ith a little jerk, pulled forward the case 

 over the segments they had exposed in moving, and 

 fed away as it were by stealth. 



Occasionally one could be seen attempting the diffi- 

 cult task of ascending the glass from the bottom, 

 and, of course, often failing to secure a footing on 

 the slippery surface; but during these efforts, made 

 with half its body exposed and stretched to the 

 utmost extent, if it chanced to touch any part of the 

 food-plant for a foothold the case would be quickly 



