126 



(October, 



then being of a pale greenish tint ; after its first moult it becomes browner-green, 

 and about the middle of July attaches itself to the stem of the plant, and ceases 

 to feed. 



On one occasion I prevented this early beginning of hybernation by keeping a 

 laiTa in a hot sunny Avindow, and at the end of July I had the satisfaction of seeing 

 it half-an-inch long ; it was then black and spiny, with a faint indication of a dull 

 whitish stripe along the sides above the feet, but unluckily, after its hybernation 

 commenced, it was killed by mould settling on it ; and up to last spring this was 

 all I had to record. 



But on April 1st, 1868, I had the indescribable pleasure of receiving a larva of 

 this species, most kindly presented to me by Mr. VV. H. Harwood, of Colchester, 

 and which he had found during a walk through a wood ; his attention having been 

 for a moment arrested by a leaf of primrose being much eaten, and, on turning it 

 up, he detected the larva adhering to it. 



From its size and appearance being similar to the one above-mentioned, I felt 

 sanguine in having now a chance of observing and rearing a larva to the perfect 

 state. When received it was barely half-an-inch long, covered with spines and 

 black, excepting a stripe formed of whitish freckles running along above the legs ; 

 but on the thoracic segments only were they so thick as to make the stripe appear 

 there much whiter than on the others. 



A very faint edging of greyish rendered visible the black dorsal stripe. 



The spines and legs black, and large in proportion j the prolegs of a dark 

 smoky tint, inclining to reddish. 



It at first refused to eat when placed on growing plants of dog-violet and 

 primrose, but within twenty-eight hours it moulted ; and then when the stm shone 

 on it, its appetite returned. Its pace when walking was very rapid ; and sometimes 

 it fed for a while on the dog-violet leaves, and sometimes rested quite still, basking 

 in the sun's rays ; when these were withdrawn it retired to the under-side of a leaf, 

 and there remained, apparently without motion, till the hour (viz., 2 p-m) of the 

 next day which brought the sun round to the window in which its cage was placed, 

 and then at once it came forth and actively walked about — fed and basked as 

 before. After a few days it began to appear nuAvell, ceased to feed, remained on 

 the earth, and kept out of sight for about four or five days. 



Towards evening of April 12th it re-appeared, and rejoiced mo greatly by 

 showing itself on the side of its glass cylinder in a new coat of black velvet, orna- 

 mented with a sub-dorsal row of bright greenish-yellow spines vrith black tips and 

 branches, all the other spines being wholly black ; the prolegs now appeared dull 

 pinkish. 



By the 16th of April its pale stripe above the legs had become visible, but 

 greyish in tint, the whitest portion being on the third and fourth segments ; the 

 whole of the back remaining of a deep velvety-blackness. The greyish-white stripe 

 above the legs is formed by a series of whitish spots vrith black centres, and as 

 they are more or less aggregated, so the appearance is whiter or greyer. The 

 anterior legs black ; prolegs black, with their tips brovrnish and semi-ti-ansparent ; 

 the ventral surface brownish-black. 



Towards the end of April it attained its full dimensions— about an inch long, 

 and rather thick when in repose, but when stretched out and walking, one inch and 



