SMEEINTHUS TILIJE. 105 



SMEEINTHUS TILI2E. 



Plate XX, fig. 3. 



Two of Mr. Buckler's figures have dates, July 20th, 

 1858, and July 25th, 1867. In my pupa-digging days 

 I found large numbers of this species at elm trees near 

 Exeter, and the moths when bred would pair without 

 difficulty, and the females began to oviposit immedi- 

 ately afterwards. The middle of May seemed the 

 favourite time for emerging, my recorded dates lying 

 between May 5th and June 5th. I have, however, one 

 curious record ; on September 22nd, 1858, I found a 

 larva then unchanged, which resulted in a moth August 

 8th, 1859 ; all the pupa? I found in 1858 had disclosed 

 the moths in May, 1859. I had some larvse from a 

 lime tree nearly full-fed, which were captured in the 

 first week of September, 1875. I noted that larvaB 

 were hatched on June 5th from eggs laid not quite 

 three weeks previously. 



On July 7th, 1886, Mr. Gr. T. Porritt sent me some 

 young larvae which had been hatched on July 1st; 

 they moulted four times, July 8th, 15th, 21st, and 

 29th, and fed on till the middle of August, when they 

 sickened and died ; I gave them lime leaves. I used 

 to have similar results in my earlier attempts at rearing 

 this species, and I remember Mr. H. Doubleday telling 

 me of a brood of two hundred larvaB which throve till 

 near full growth and then died off. 



The egg is oval in form, plump, with shining pale 

 green shell, about 1*75 mm. in length and 1*4 mm. in 

 width. The young larva before its first moult has the 

 head rounded, the subdivisions of the segments already 

 marked, the skin covered with small two-pronged hairs, 

 not so conspicuous as those of ocellatus and populi, the 

 horn (2 mm. in length) black, thickly set with short 

 two-pointed bristles, its end with two points ; the 

 colour yellowish-green, more full green on the back ; 



