8304 



Insects. 



black ; the skin at the joints is softer and pale-coloured, so that the 

 legs appear to be ringed. The general colour of the skin is a very 

 dark blue, or even a bluish black variegated with yellow and pale 

 blue. There is" a narrow pale blue stripe down the middle of the 

 back ; this is best shown at figure 1 . At some distance on either side 

 is a yellow stripe, which appears to be made up of spots placed close 

 together ; the rest of the space, as far as the spiracles, is beset with 

 small round and elliptical pale blue and yellow spots. The legs are 

 pale blue, with a quadrate black spot at the base and outer surface ; 

 above the legs are some rather large oval spots placed lengthwise. 

 The first segment, or what might be called the neck, is almost wholly 

 yellow. 



The position of all these markings can be more readily made out 

 from the enlarged drawing of the seventh and eighth segments given 

 at fig. 2a. From this it can be seen that the skin of each segment is 

 divided on the dorsal surface into six folds of unequal dimensions, and 

 that the two yellow dorsal stripes are composed of spots divided 

 from each other by the black epidermis lying between the folds. The 

 first two spots on the folds, or rather to say, dermal eminences, are of 

 equal length, but the first is a little broader, the third is of the same 

 breadth as the second, but prolonged a little further down the side ; 

 these three are yellow. Then follow two smaller pale blue spots on 

 narrower folds, and lastly a large yellow spot on a second eminence. 



It is not worth while to give a detailed description of the size, shape 

 and position of the other spots and dots, as these will be more readily 

 made out from the figure. We must, however, point out that the first, 

 third and sixth dermal folds are beset with spines, as is the case with 

 L. Pini, only in the latter they are black and in this insect yellow. 



There are sixteen abdominal claspers in all. The posterior termi- 

 nation of the body is almost always kept bent- round towards the ab- 

 dominal claspers. When the larvae are touched they throw the head 

 and fore part of the body violently backwards, and then hold on by 

 only four or five pairs of claspers. When left at rest they assume the 

 position represented in the plate. 



It is worthy of remark that while Hartig and Ratzeburg both assert 

 that L. similis has the same habits as L. Pini, and the first-named 

 author distinctly states that he met with his examples in the larva 

 state on Kufern-Stangenholzern, with us the larva? have never been 

 observed but on the Wev mouth pine (Pinus Slrobus). Further, Dr. 

 Wttevvaal informs me that he found fully grown larvae on the 24th of 

 June, 1856, the 25th of June, 1857, and the 15th of September, 18^8, 



