144 OERURA VINULA. 



than six weeks ; and I found an egg July 7th, the larva 

 from which hatched July 17th, and which, had it 

 thriven, would have lived on through August. This 

 year also Mr. Gr. T. Porritt sent me both eggs and 

 larvse, Mr. Gr. C. Bignell sent me larvas, and Mr. W. 

 H. B. Fletcher sent me eggs. 



The eggs are laid either singly or two or three near 

 together, on leaves of poplar, sallow, or willow (I fancy 

 poplar — any kind — is preferred by the larvse when they 

 have the choice); the egg is button-shaped, convex 

 above, nearly flat underneath, fairly round, with a small 

 pit at the apex, varying from 1*6 mm. to almost 2 

 mm. in wide diameter, slightly more than 1 mm. high, 

 the shell hard, glossy, but finely pitted all over ; colour 

 rich warm brown above, more smoky beneath, the 

 central pit blackish but ringed with yellowish- white. 

 There is a pale variety of the egg of a buff tint, the 

 central pit still blackish, with light ring. Mr. Fletcher 

 has noticed the likeness between eggs of vinula and 

 the little fungoid buttons seen on sallow leaves. The 

 young larva escapes by a round hole close to the cen- 

 tral pit, and this hole is the only mark of its being 

 hatched ; it is a queer little creature, 3*5 mm. to 4 mm. 

 long, its tails 3 mm. long, the warts on 2 projecting over 

 the head like horns, the skin smooth, the places of the 

 usual dots marked by small hairs, the ventral prolegs 

 very large. The whips from the tails can be protruded 

 to nearly the length of 2 mm. ; the colour intense sooty- 

 black above, black with claret-red tinge below, the 

 whips carmine red ; some examples have their horns 

 and tails tinged with ferruginous. I have noticed that 

 sometimes just the edges of young poplar leaves turn 

 black and wither, and it struck me that the newly- 

 hatched vinula on the edge of a leaf must look very 

 like a small patch of such a withered edging. The 

 larva is more irritable when young than afterwards, 

 and when disturbed curves its tails over its back 

 readily, and protrudes the whips ; as it grows there 

 comes something like a line dividing the colouring 



