288 CRAMBUS PRATELLUS. 



surface and the prolegs are uniformly of the ground 

 colour of the dorsal surface, and the anterior legs 

 polished black. 



I supplied them with fresh grass roots, but they 

 soon commenced hibernation. 



On the 16th of March, 1884, they were all lively 

 again, and apparently in size, colour and markings 

 just as when described in the autumn. 



On the 14th of April, being full-grown, I took a 

 number of them out again for further notes. They 

 had not much altered since described on the 24th of 

 September, and many of them did not exceed the 

 length then given (five-eighths of an inch), and none 

 did I see over three-quarters of an inch. They were 

 of the same form, and the most material alteration 

 was in the ground colour, which had become browner, 

 many, indeed, having quite lost the olive tint ; the 

 tubercles had also become browner in accordance with 

 the ground colour, and in the centre of each was a 

 minute black spot, from which sprang a short hair. 

 The very minute spiracles are also black. 



They lived in silken tubes spun close to, or on the 

 earth just above, or even among the roots of the 

 grasses, and came out to feed with avidity at night. 

 As they ceased feeding they spun firm silken cocoons 

 among the roots of the grass, or very frequently 

 against the sides of the breeding-pot, but just below 

 the surface of the soil. 



The pupa is about three-eighths of an inch long, 

 and of ordinary shape ; it is glossy, fairly plump, and 

 has all the parts clearly defined. The ground colour 

 is bright yellow-brown, the abdominal divisions 

 darker brown, and the eye-cases and anal point nearly 

 black. 



I bred a good and beautiful series of imagos, the 

 first not appearing until the 14th of June, though I 

 had noticed the species on the wing at large three 

 weeks previouslv. (George T. Porritt, ]8th July, 

 1884; E.M.M., August, 1884, XXI, 62-63.) 



