162 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



remarkably soft, and able to get through a 

 crevice in the breeding-cage much smaller 

 than the apparent size of the larva. It is 

 very sluggish in its habits. 



Pupa —The larva spins a yellovi^- 

 coloured cocoon on the stem of any plant 

 able to bear its weight. It tapers quite to 

 a point at each end, and the usual term 

 "shuttle-shaped" is very appropriate. In 

 substance the cocoon does not seem to be 

 spun virith silken threads, but rather as if 

 composed of a viscid substance spread thin- 

 ly out. In Merrin's calendar the cocoon is 

 said to be white ; I never saw them any 

 colour but yellow, except when they had 

 remained over the winter. In this cocoon 

 the larva changes to a black pupa in which 

 each organ is covered with a separate sheath 

 or case. In this respect the Burnets and 

 Foresters differ from nearly all other Lepi- 

 dopterous insects. 



Pood Plants. —Stainton says "On 

 various leguminous plants;" Owen Wilson 

 says "Bird's-foot Trefoil. Trefoil, Yellow 

 Vetchling ; " Newman says " Chiefly on the 

 Crowfoot Trefoil." I never saw them on 

 anything but Bird's-foot Trefoil {Lotus 

 comiculatus) myself. 



Times of Appearance The insect 



emerges about the middle of June, or in the 

 north towards the end of the month. The 

 egg is laid in July and hatches in about 

 fourteen days. The larva grows very little 

 during the autumn months and hybernates 

 quite small, beginning to feed again in April. 

 The cocoon is spun towards the end of May 

 or early in June. 



Habitat. — it is common in most of 

 places in Britain, but is, perhaps, rather 

 local in Scotland. Any dry place where the 

 food-plant is abundant appears to be a 

 suitable locality. It occurs all over Europe 

 except the extreme north, and, perhaps, a 

 part of Spain. 



Variation. — Specimens in which the 

 crimson of the hind wings and the spots on 

 the fore wings a;e replaced with pale yellow 

 are not very raie. They seem to be confined 

 to certain localities, or, at all events, to be 

 more numerous in some places than others. 

 One collector here (Hartlepool), Mr. Dixon, 

 has taken six or eight specimens within as 

 many years. At Cambridge, a very different 

 locality, this form has often been obtained. 

 Mr. Tugwell has a very beautiful specimen in 

 which the yellow shades off through orange 

 to the usual hue. Among more abnormal 

 forms, Mr. Bond has one with the wings 

 unusually elongate and single spots in lieu 

 of the usual pairs, except in those nearest 

 the hind margin, where both appear. It 

 was taken at Yaxley Fen. Mr. C. A. Briggs 

 has one with the four spots nearest the base 

 forming an irregular elongate blotch, the 

 outer pair being as usual. This was taken 

 at Folkestone in 1875. He also had another 

 taken at the same place and time, that is so 

 thinly scaled as to be nearly transparent. 

 It is also much smaller than usual, and was 

 probably a starved example. A very strik- 

 ing example is figured in Mosley's illustra- 

 tions from Mr. Wellman's collection. In it 

 the^usual crimson is replaced by a beautiful 

 pink. It was bred from a larva found at 

 Greenhithe. A specimen was offered me 

 for sale a few weeks ago with the wings 

 yellow on one side only. I do not know 

 where it had been obtained. Nearly all 

 lepidopterous insects with red of any shade 

 in their markings have this hue replaced 

 with yellow occasionally. The following 

 forms are named in Staudinger : — Chrysan- 

 tJiemi, Esp., a variety which I understand 

 to have the spots much obscured by the 

 ground colour ; Cytisi, Hb., in which the 

 spots are confluent in pairs ; Manii, Hs., an 

 Alpine form, very thinly scaled ; Ochsen/iei 

 meH, Z., a large form occurring in the 

 south of Europe; Bamhtrii, Ld,, has the 

 spots as in Cytisi, but differs in the hind 



