66 AEGYNNIS ADIPPE. 



These eggs were placed as well as a few others on the 

 leaves of Viola canina and odorata, which were put in 

 the cage. 



The shape of the egg is conical, the base broad having 

 a central depression, the sides are very boldly ribbed 

 and reticulated, some ribs being longer than others and 

 reaching to the apex where they turn down a little. 

 When first laid its colour is a glistening light ochreous- 

 green, becoming in three or four days rather pink, after- 

 wards deepening gradually to a rosy red, the ribs show- 

 ing paler. At this time the top of the egg between the 

 ribs soon assumes a deep carmine hue, softening into 

 light greenish at the base ; the egg changes again to a 

 more dingy pinkish all over, no longer glistening but 

 very dull. 



By the end of September the eggs had grown very 

 much paler in effect, owing to the ribbed reticulation 

 becoming rather whitish, but beneath the ribs there now 

 appeared at the top of the egg a dark grey blotch. 



The eggs from Mr. Ballett Fletcher were greyish- 

 green all through the winter, and towards the end of 

 February, 1878, looked more of a bluish-green than 

 before, and on the 1st of March the ribs of some few 

 became whitish and a dark leaden internal blotch was 

 visible through the shell near the top. 



On March 2nd I saw at midnight that five larvse 

 were hatched. March 4th, two more at 5 p.m. March 

 7th, one at midnight. March 21st, one at 5 p.m. 



The newly hatched larva does not eat any more of 

 the egg-shell than the hole at the top for its escape ; it 

 is rather an active little crawler. At first it is of a 

 brown colour, with a shining black head, and has a very 

 small black-brown plate on the middle of the second 

 segment, and is decidedly hairy. All these larvse excep- 

 ting one fell a prey to slugs introduced with the plants. 

 The solitary larva which survived grew very slowly ; 

 in April it was very small and dark coloured as before, 

 in May it grew a little and by the end of the month 

 was about a quarter of an inch long, with blackish 



