HEPIALUS HUMULI. 131 



Hepialus HUMULI. 

 Plate XXX, fig. 3. 



Mr. Buckler figured this larva May 1st, 1861 , at 

 roots of dock; May 10th, 1862, at roots of grass, the 

 moth was bred June 23rd ; April 25th, 1868, at roots 

 of dandelion, the moth bred June 18th ; the pupa he 

 figured June 11th, 1867, and bred the moth June 27th. 

 I have had the full-grown larva, but took no notes of 

 it ; it is subterranean in its habits, feeding on the 

 roots of many plants ; the pupa, like those of its con- 

 geners, is of the long " daddy-longlegs " form. Dr. 

 Chapman has recently (' Ent. Month. Mag.,' vol.xxiii,p. 

 164) established the fact of the female moths seeking 

 the males for pairing ; while ovipositing they hover 

 over the tops of the grass in meadows, " dropping their 

 eggs loosely, and if captured continue to do so into 

 the hand or into the box." In 1886 Mr. G. T. Porritt 

 and Mr. J. E. Robson sent me eggs on July 15th, and 

 Mr. J. Anderson on July 24th. From the earlier batches 

 the larvse began to hatch on July 29th. Being from 

 home at that time I kept some of them in a bottle with 

 tufts of grass for a while, but on August 19th I put 

 them into a flower-pot with grass and dead nettle 

 growing ; since then I have seen some of them on 

 September 13th, when I disturbed the earth to look 

 for them, and on October 26th I saw one which had 

 come out of the earth, and had crawled up the side of 

 the flower-pot for an inch or two, being, as I supposed, 

 in some way incommoded by the very damp state of 

 the earth. From the rate of growth observed at these 

 dates I am inclined to think that one year would 

 suflice for the whole life of this species, the larva stage 

 lasting from August till the next May, but of course I 

 cannot speak positively. 



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

 oval, about 0*7 mm. long by 0*5 mm. wide, the shell 

 smooth and very shining, colour at first white, but 



