36 APLEOTA HERBIDA. 



APLEOTA HERBrDA. 



Plate XCII, fig. 1. 



On the 6th of August, 1875, Mr. J. G. Ross kindly 

 sent me five young larvge of this species feeding on 

 dock ; they were about three-eighths of an inch long, of 

 stoutish figure, and ate but sparingly for some time, 

 and in a few days one of them died. Whereupon I 

 changed their food to Plantago major, still giving 

 dock with it a few times until their decided refusal to 

 touch it while the plantain was present induced me 

 to confine them entirely to this latter food, with the 

 hope of feeding them up by the approach of winter. 

 Their progress was very satisfactory. They were 

 half -grown by the 12th of October, and on the 18 th 

 of November one, full-grown, burrowed into the earth 

 to spin up, another, full-grown, seemed ready to 

 follow, and two others were not very far behind. 



When first they arrived they had most of their 

 distinctive markings very plainly developed on a paler 

 ochreous ground than it afterwards became, and their 

 brown-coloured dorsal marks and freckles had some- 

 thing of greenish in the brown, but as they grew they 

 became more decidedly brown, the four varying but 

 little in the depth of their colouring, and on attaining 

 their half growth they were all very uniform in 

 appearance. Their peculiar colouring reminded me 

 of the snuff-box of a friend containing brown rappee 

 of just their colour. At this stage one failed not to 

 see three faintly paler lines beginning on the thoracic 

 segments, but only the central or dorsal one continuing 

 down the rest of the back, and intersected at the end 

 of the twelfth segment by a transverse pale margin 

 terminating abruptly, or rather obscure dorsal dia- 

 mond and side wedges thus truncated ; on the other 

 segments a dorsal complete diamond is just visible 

 of brown freckles very little deeper in tint than the 

 ground, which from their youth has been steadily 



