THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[March 



in galactodactyla of a costal mark, faint shade to the fissure, a black dot 

 at the end of the fissure and a faint shade in the lower lobe, which 

 becomes distinct in the fringes. Two (and even three) small black dots 

 are found in both lobes towards their apices ; a tiny black dot is also 

 found in the centre of the wing midway between the fissure and the base. 

 Hind wings consist of five plumules, white, with grey fringes. 



It seems next to impossible to disturb the moths by day, but in the 

 evening they may be found moving freely about the food plant. Stainton's 

 diagnosis is as follows: — "9'" — n'". F.-w. white, with two black dots 

 before the fissure, and several black dots round the tips of the lobes " 

 ("Manual," II., p. 444). I have already mentioned that Hiibner's figure 

 cannot be described. 



Larva — The larva of this species is excessively abundant on Arctium 

 lappa in the clearings of almost all our Kent woods. It feeds on the 

 youngest leaves, and its long white hairs and pale green ground colour 

 render it very inconspicuous when it is resting, as is usually the case, by the 

 side of the midrib or one of the larger veins of the undersides of the 

 hirsute young leaves of its food plant. It eats through the lower epidermis 

 and clears out the parenchyma in the form of little round holes, leaving, 

 however, the upper epidermis intact. This does not show at the time, 

 but as the leaves get older and larger, the epidermis which has been left 

 gives way, and the plant looks as if it had been riddled again and again 

 with shot. By the time the leaves are in this condition, they are forsaken 

 and the larvae have sought pastures new on the young leaves at the 

 centre of the plant. It is really remarkable how many larvae may 

 sometimes be obtained from one plant, but I have occasionally found as 

 many as 40 or 50 on a not very large plant, and 20 is quite a common 

 number. They are remarkably protected, however, and I have looked 

 over a plant five or six times and found larvae each time that I 

 had overlooked previously. As the larvae get older the hairs are 

 proportionally shorter, and hence they get greener, following, it 

 seems, the fact that the leaves also lose their characteristic hoary 

 whiteness as they get older. Stainton simply says: — "Larva on 

 burdock. V. " ("Manual," II., p. 444). Mr. Griffiths records 

 larvae as late as June 24th, at Dursley, in 1890. In that 

 year I bred the moths* from Reading larvae on June 6th. Of the larva 

 of this species Mr. Porritt writes as follows : — " During June last, I bred 

 a nice series of this very pretty ' plume, 1 from liberal supplies of larvae 

 sent me by Messrs. W. H. Grigg of Bristol and F. D. Wheeler of 

 Norwich ; from the two lots of larvae it would appear they attain full 

 growth sooner or later in different localities, for the larvae from Bristol 

 were spinning up when received in the first week in May, and were all 

 pupae when the still smaller larvae arrived from Norwich at quite the end of 

 the month. They were feeding on the under side of the leaves of the burdock, 



