OATOOALA PROMISSA. 123 



ing (the 25th) I was somewhat consoled at seeing the 

 third was hatched, and so I again had two young 

 larvae to watch. Curiously enough, neither of them 

 seemed to care then for the leaves, but chose the buds 

 and those containing blossoms in preference, feeding 

 only after dark, and resting all day stretched out at 

 full length, motionless, belly upwards on the muslin 

 cover of the cage, a habit continued through all stages 

 of growth, the moulting included, a process which in- 

 variably occurred at night, in that position, as proved 

 by the cast skin next morning adhering to the muslin 

 with all the legs spread out to their full extent. 



No doubt, in a state of nature, the larva passes the 

 daylight in this quiescent position, probably cgi the 

 under surface of horizontal or sloping twigs or 

 branches of the oak, where it would be in shadow, and 

 would assimilate wonderfully well to the more or less 

 lichen- covered surface on which it would be closely 

 pressed, and would be in a great measure safe from 

 the prying eyes of birds, and, I may add, of entomo- 

 logists, for I remember no recorded instance of its 

 having been found at large by any who have collected 

 in that favourite hunting-ground, the New Forest. 



The newly-hatched larva was three-sixteenths of an 

 inch long, with largish head and slender body, stoutest 

 at the ninth and tenth segments, the first two pairs of 

 ventral legs quite rudimentary, the third and fourth 

 pairs conspicuously developed, and also the anal pair ; 

 its mode of progression was precisely similar to that of 

 a geometer ; the colour of the head black, of the body 

 a light drab, broadly banded with dark brownish-grey 

 across most of the segments, with fine pale double lon- 

 gitudinal lines along the sides, and with two pairs of 

 black dots and bristles on the back of each segment ; 

 after the first moult the dark bands disappeared, and 

 the colouring was light greenish-grey, the dorsal line 

 showed as darker, and then a lighter spear-shaped mark 

 on each segment ; the pale twin-like subdorsal lines 

 still remained, and below them a blackish blotch on the 



