1892.] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



159 



has anyone ever seen the larvae or pupae the same year, in the months 

 following the emergence of the imagos ? When I was at Folkestone 

 in the middle of August, 1886, 1887 and 1888, Mr. Austin of that 

 town, was breeding loewi from Eiytlircea flowers, but the flowers were 

 collected in the latter part of June and early July. This is the 

 ordinary time that the larvae are to be collected; they pupate through- 

 out July and August, stay in the pupal stage about three weeks, and 

 then emerge. These are, at any rate, the data i have noted. The 

 following year, from June to August, the larvae can be again obtained ; 

 but so far as I know, and so far as I can find out, from the time of 

 emergence of loewi in August and September to the appearance of 

 the larvae again in June, we have an almost perfect blank, filled in 

 only by the statement in Stainton's " Manual" of larva in September 

 and October, and the same statement in Merrin's " Calendar " 

 (transcribed probably from the "Manual"), to the effect that the 

 imago occurs in July and the larva in September. I suppose we 

 may safely presume that Mr. South's reference to Mr. Leech's 

 " Pyralides " ("Entomologist," XXII., p. 35) refers to the description 

 which he (Mr. South) published (" Entomologist," Vol. XVIII., p. 

 99), and where he writes :— " Larva in August and September, in 

 flowers of common centaury." This I should have supposed was 

 based on other authors. But Mr. South goes on : — " I have a 

 description of the larva, taken from a solitary example in 1881," &c. 

 But surely this is the larva described more in detail ("Entomologist " 

 XXII., p. 35), and to which Mr. South adds "September, in the 

 flowers of ErythrrF.a ceiitnureuni Here then is the missing link. If 

 Mr. South lias got the life-history of a September larva, Vvdien it 

 pupated, and in short, its history until it emerged in the August (his 

 own date) following, we shall have learned something we do not at 

 present know. The " Manual," in making the larva follow the imago 

 the same year, is in error, the "Calendar " is in error ; but Mr. South 

 has obtained a September larva, and might have cleared up the error, 

 but he perpetuates it by saying, " Imago, August ; larva, September" 

 ("Entomologist," XXII., pp. 104-105). In the footnote to this 

 communication, Mr. South says that my suggestions are correct, but 

 that he bred the moth in October from the September larvae. It is 

 strange that in stating the time of appearance, he did not add such 

 an important particular, but simply gave " August." So far as I 

 know the life-history of zopJiodactylus, it appears to be as follows : — 

 Larvae — May, June, July, and early August (sometimes even early 

 September), in flowers of Erytlircra centauvciim. Pupa; : — July, August, 

 and early September (sometimes late September), hung up by anal 

 segment amongst foodplant. Iiiiagiiws : — Middle of August to middle 

 of September (sometimes as late as October). The remainder of the 



