72 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[April 



rather larger ; near the apex of the upper lobe are three black dots, 

 and three on the margin of the lower lobe. The hind-wings greyish- 

 ochreous. The perfect insect appears in June and July. Stainton's 

 diagnosis of this species is : — " Fore-wings whitish, dusted with grey, 

 with some black dots round the apex of the anterior lobe" (" Manual," 

 Vol. IL, p. 443)- Mi\ South writes : — " The imago of L . tephvadactyla 

 runs very close to that of L. lienigianus in structure and coloration, but 

 the absence of the costal spots at once separates it from the latter 

 species " ("Entomologist," Vol. XV., p. 106). Hiibner's fig. 17 is the 

 t\*pe and of this I made the following description : — " ? Anterior wings 

 dull ochreous-yellow, much sprinkled with black scales ; a long white 

 dot near the base, midway between the costa and inner margin ; a 

 small black spot on the lower side of the second lobe of the anterior 

 wings, and two others on the first digit, one on the fissure, the other 

 directly above it on the costa. Hind-wings unicolorous dark grey. 

 Head, thorax, and abdomen of the same colour as the fore-wing." 

 (" Sammlung europ. Schmet." &c, fig. 17). A figure of the moth, 

 larva, and food plant appear at Vol. XV. of the " Entomologist," Vol. 

 XV., figs. 4, 40, 46, \c. 



Larva — The larva, which feeds on the leaves of Solidago virgaurea, 

 is full-fed in May, and is of a grass-green colour, with the head 

 yellowish, and with clearly defined tubercles from which several short 

 hairs spring. Mr. Porritt gives a very full description of the larva and 

 writes as follows : — " In May last year, 1 id again in May of this year. 

 Mr. W. H. Grigg of Bristol, kindly sent me larvae of this species 

 feeding on the leaves of the golden-rod. Length about half-an-inch, 

 and of the usual shape characteristic of the genus, rather flattened 

 ventrally, but roofed upwards from the spiracular region to the dorsal 

 area, which is also rather flattened ; head polished, about the same 

 width as the second, but narrower than the third, segment; segmental 

 divisions clearly defined ; tubercles prominent, each of them emitting 

 several short hairs, ground colour grass-green ; the head pale yellow ; 

 there is an interrupted grey line along each side of the dorsal ridge, 

 and a faint indication of a similarly coloured subdorsal line ; tubercles 

 greyish white, as are also the hairs; the segmental divisions yellowish. 

 Ventral surface uniformly grass-green" ("Entomologist," Vol. XIV., 

 p. 260). It is, I believe, quite uncertain yet whether tephvadactyla 

 hybernates like osteodactyla in the larval stage. Stainton writes in 

 " The Entomologist's Annual," for 1856, p. 60 : — " Pterophonis tephra- 

 dactylus. Professor Frey finds the larva of this on Solidago virgaurea in 

 May ; I met with the young larvae on that plant, at Clovelly, in 

 September." In the " Manual," Vol. IL, p. 443, the same author 

 writes : — " Larva on golden-rod, IX — V.," based probably on the 

 above observation. As, however, the larva of osteodactyla was not then 



