64 XYLINA CONFOEMIS ( = FURCIFERA). 



friend (Mr. Evan John, of Llantrissant), who gene- 

 rously shared his good luck with myself and others. 



Six moths were captured in October, 1870, and 

 were kept together in confinement through the winter; 

 and towards the end of February and the beginning 

 of March, 1871, eggs were laid by one of the females, 

 but the time of pairing was not observed. 



The larvae began to hatch on April 17th, the last of 

 them appearing on the 30th. They fed on alder 

 (Alnus glutinosa), and those that lived so loug were 

 full-grown from the 11th to the 17th of June; but a 

 great many died off after their last moult, and I 

 fancied that, in the case of the larvse which I fed my- 

 self, this mishap was caused by the alder leaves being 

 smothered with the secretion of the aphides, which 

 thickly swarmed on them. The pupa state lasted till 

 August ; the first moth of which I have any record ap- 

 pearing on the 7th of that month, and the last on the 

 17th. 



The egg is small for the size of the moth, globular 

 in shape, the shell thin, with about thirty fine ribs, and 

 irregularly reticulated between them ; the colour at 

 first a pale straw-yellow, afterwards a dingy pinkish, 

 and lastly a dull purplish-brown, assimilating well with 

 the rough specks on the alder bark. 



The larva escapes by an irregular hole in the side of 

 the egg, and at first is of a pale drab tint, and semi- 

 translucent, with the alimentary canal showing as an 

 interna] green stripe. At first, and for three weeks of its 

 life, it lives and feeds within the hollows between the 

 ribs of the partially-expanded young alder leaves ; by 

 degrees, as it feeds and grows, becoming more opaque, 

 and greenish in tint. When about a fortnight old the 

 colour is pellucid green, and distinct whitish longitu- 

 dinal lines appear. In another week the colour is a 

 full bright green, and the lines whitish-yellow. At 

 the end of the month the length attained is fully half 

 an inch; the colouring now is at its brightest, the 

 ground being a rich velvety full green, and the lines 



