8174 



Insects. 



Description of the Larva of Eupithecia viminata.— Rnlher short, but tapering very 

 considerably towards the head. Ground colour bright green, very translucent. Cen- 

 tral, dorsal and subdorsal lines dark green, but varying considerably in breadth and 

 intensity of colour. Segmental divisions yellow. Belly generally destitute of mark- 

 ings, but occasionally traversed longitudinally by two slender faint subventral lines, 

 rather darker than the ground colour. Spiracular line whitish green. When young 

 the ground colour is greenish white. Feeds on flowers and seeds of Valeriana offici- 

 nalis, in woods, osier-beds, &c. Full fed from the middle of July to the middle of 

 August. Pupa yellowish olive, enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon. Perfect insect 

 appears in May and June. In July, 1861, I found a number of larvae feeding upon 

 valerian in one of our Buckinghamshire woods, whicb I look to be E. plumbeolata. The 

 greater part of them were ichneumoned ; but in May I bred a small set of E. viminata, 

 Doubl. I have this summer again met with the larva in an osier-bed in Hereford- 

 shire, and in woods in Dorsetshire and Bucks ; and my friends Messrs. Hellins and 

 Greene have taken it in Derbyshire and Devonshire. Mr. Doubleday is of opinion — 

 and I have no doubt whatever that he is correct— that this species is E. valerianata of 

 Hiibner. His figure of the larva of this latter species agrees with those I have taken. 

 The name "viminata" must therefore, I suppose, sink, and be replaced by the older 

 and more appropriate title of " valerianata." — H. Harpur Crewe ; The Rectory, 

 Dray ton- Beauchamp, Tring, August 12, 1862. 



Description of the Larva of Eupithecia indigata. — Long, slender, and tapering con- 

 siderably towards the head. Ground colour pale greenish yellow or yellowish red. 

 Central dorsal line dusky reddish brown or olive, frequently very indistinct or wholly 

 evanescent, except on the capital segments. Subdorsal lines pale yellow. Segmental 

 divisions reddish. Head reddish. Collar reddish brown. Spiracular line pale yel- 

 low. Belly greenish yellow. Central ventral line yellow. Subventral line reddish 

 brown. The eggs from which the larvae above detailed were reared were laid by 

 females obligingly sent me by Mr. Greening, of Warrington. They fed upon wild 

 juniper and cypress, and were full fed from the middle to the end of July. I regret 

 to say that just as they were ready to spin up I was obliged to leave home, and the 

 journey killed them all. I was, however, able to take descriptions, and to secure an 

 accurate drawing from the pencil of Mr. Buckler. — Id. 



Description of the Larva of Petasia nubeculosa. — The egg is laid about the middle 

 of April, either on the slender twigs or young leaves of the birch, and is hatched on or 

 about the 1st of May. The larva rests in the form of a horse-shoe, the head thrown 

 back until it nearly touches the elevation on the 12lh segment ; when in this position 

 it often adheres by three pairs of claspers, only the 1st and 5th pairs being raised : it 

 does not fall off its food, feign death, or roll itself in a ring when touched or disturbed. 

 The head is of slightly less diameter than the body, and is susceptible of being.par- 

 tially withdrawn into the 2nd segment : the body is of uniform diameter throughout, 

 the 12th segment being elevated on the back into an obtuse angle; the divisions of 

 the segments are marked by conspicuous incisions. Head shining, glaucous or blue : 

 body delicate apple-green, with a narrow, transverse, oblique, yellow stripe on each 

 side of the 4th segment ; on the back of each segment from the 5th to the 10th, both 

 inclusive, is a whitish cloud, and on each side of each segment is a faint indication of 

 a similar whitish cloud ; on the summit of the elevation on the 12th segment is a nar- 

 row transverse line, bright yellow at both extremities, but paler in the middle ; on 

 each side of each segment are ten raised dots; the two that most nearly approach the 



