HEPIALUS HECTUS. 53 



fern. The parts bitten are oval excavations, about five 

 or six lines long, in a vertical direction, and from two 

 to three lines broad, and hence considerable exudation 

 of sap ensues, which probably forms part of the sus- 

 tenance of the larva, as at this time it is found quite 

 wet, and the stem and soil are even saturated. 



At the end of May or early in June it is full-fed, 

 leaves the fern, and just on the surface of the earth, 

 amongst dead leaves, and often under moss, spins an 

 oblong cocoon, lined with silk, and covered with light 

 vegetable or earthy matter. It remains but a short 

 time in the pupa state, as the perfect insect is disclosed 

 during the month of June. 



The full-grown larva is about an inch and one-eighth 

 in length, cylindrical, slender, and tapering a little 

 towards the head, and also just towards the anal ex- 

 tremity ; the head being broad in front and rather 

 flattened, the sides rounded. 



The transverse wrinkles on the segments beyond the 

 fourth are so 'regularly and uniformly indented, that 

 the segmental divisions cannot well be distinguished 

 from them, the body appearing like a series of rings, 

 each segment being subdivided into four, the second 

 in front being the widest, and the rest of equal width. 



Its colour is a pale drab — more or less pale in indi- 

 viduals — and opaque, becoming only a little trans- 

 parent and shining on the thoracic segments, which 

 are furnished with brilliantly-polished plates or horny 

 markings in the following order : A black or blackish- 

 brown plate, rounded behind, covering the upper sur- 

 face of the second segment ; the third and fourth have 

 each a transverse dorsal, narrow oblong plate in front, 

 and a very small one on each side below it, and a little 

 farther back, on each side, is a drop- shaped plate, and 

 just above the legs an oval or circular one ; all of these 

 plates, besides one on the tip of the anal flap, are dark 

 brown, as also is the head, and highly lustrous, con- 

 trasting with the dull appearance of the rest of the 

 body. 



