142 EBULEA VERBASCALIS. 



few days they ate small holes through the leaves, and 

 after a moult or two the holes became more con- 

 spicuous, so that as the larvas grew their ravages 

 indicated sufficiently well their situations on the plant ; 

 and by the end of August they had grown to be a 

 quarter of an inch long, still protecting themselves 

 with a little silk under the leaves ; but as their growth 

 increased, they no longer made any elaborate retreat, 

 beyond occasionally turning down a part of a leaf with 

 a few threads of silk, or more often by similar means 

 attaching one leaf to another as a screen or hiding- 

 place in which to lie sheltered. They were in their last 

 coats when about thirty to thirty-five days old, and 

 were full-fed by the fortieth and spinning themselves 

 up, mine in earthen cocoons, those of Mr. Jeffrey in 

 sand, which his local knowledge enabled him to give 

 them to make up in. Judging from the behaviour of 

 the larvae in captivity, they should be easily dislodged 

 from the plants by shaking or beating ; indeed, the 

 first two larvae I had to figure, in 1876, were obtained 

 in this way by Mr. Jeffrey, at Folkestone, as late as the 

 27th of September. 



As to the moths, Mr. Jeffrey fortunately bred a few 

 this summer on the 27th and 30th of June and the 

 8th of July, although some of his larvae, like the whole 

 of mine, died in their cocoons during hibernation. 



The egg of E. verbascalis is circular, flat, and scale- 

 like, colourless and semi-transparent. Two days before 

 hatching it begins to fill out gradually with some 

 degree of plumpness on the upper surface, showing 

 opaquely the embryo through the shell, which has on 

 it numerous little glistening pits. 



When first hatched the larva is whitish, semi- 

 translucent, and rather lively ; when seven clays old 

 it becomes slightly tinged with pale bluish -green ; and 

 about the nineteenth day, when a quarter of an inch 

 long, shows faintly a stronger green dorsal stripe 

 between two lines of whitish, some light brown freckles 

 on the head, and most minute black dots sprinkled 



