170 SCOPULA PRUNALIS. 



began to draw down part of one side of the leaf with 

 a few threads, and occasionally feed on the opposite 

 side, eating a hole quite through; after two or three 

 days it began to eat away a narrow open channel 

 through one side of the leaf near the stalk, for the 

 purpose of turning the part under from the cut to 

 make a covered-in abode ; and as this progressed the 

 larva went at intervals to feed on the opposite half of 

 the leaf, which became pierced with many holes by the 

 24th of March ; and as no fresh holes appeared then 

 for a day or two, I turned up the leaf to see what had 

 occurred, and found a part of it had been rolled com- 

 pletely round the larva, which lay hidden within. But 

 on tearing back a small portion the larva could just be 

 discerned in a web, lying with its head coiled round 

 waiting to moult, and getting over this operation on 

 the 30th, it deserted the leaf and wandered about over 

 several others before again settling down to feed. 



After this moult the skin was much more trans- 

 lucent and the head only partly black on the lobes of 

 the crown and on the cheek behind level with the 

 ocelli, the characteristic black mark on each side of 

 the second segment now very distinct, rather like that 

 of 8. ferrugalis, yet with the round dot behind not 

 separated, but forming part of it, somewhat after the 

 fashion of a dumpy ninepin with projecting knob at 

 the end. 



The last moult occurred on the 25th of April, when 

 these black marks disappeared and left but mere 

 specks of brownish-grey where they had been. Of 

 course now in its last stage I could be sure it was 

 my old acquaintance, S. prunalis, which I had long 

 ago figured, and found in this state on elm, honey- 

 suckle, and dog's-mercury. As if to impress these facts 

 upon me, ere April closed Mr. 0. Gr. Barrett found 

 several nearly mature larvse on Stachys sylvatica and 

 Teucrium scorodonia, which he kindly forwarded, and 

 reported meeting with more on Lychnis and marjoram, 

 while here one was found on elder. 



