1890.] THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 127 



slender pale fascia towards the hind-margin ; third feather of h.-w. 

 with a tuft of black scales from the middle." — " Manual," vol. II., 

 pp. 440-441. 



Variation. — As mentioned before, the species is extremely variable, 

 the varieties extending from a pale whitish-grey form (the type), to a 

 form very richly marbled with reddish ochreous. There is also a 

 great deal of variation in size, the early brood, being, generally the 

 larger ; although very large and very small specimens occur in both 

 broods. I can detect no difference between certain forms of our 

 gonodactyla and specimens sent from the continent as the faffarella of 

 Zeller, the latter appearing to be only a small variety of the former. 

 There appears to be practically no sexual variation. Some specimens 

 have one or neither of the two dark spots on the inner margin ; some 

 have a dark shading at the exterior edges of the cleft in the anterior 

 wings while others are without, whilst again we find specimens with 

 scarcely a trace of the fascia parallel to the hind margin and I have 

 specimens in which the characteristic costal spot is ill-developed. 

 There is also a great deal of difference in the falcate character of the 

 apex of the anterior wings, some being very pointed compared with 

 others. 



Ova. — " Ovate in shape, laid upon the long edge, not on apex ; the 

 colour pale pea-green and apparently smooth, chiefly laid deeply 

 among the fluff on the underside of the leaves or stem " (" Entomo- 

 logist's Monthly Magazine," vol. XXV., p. 104). This refers to the 

 summer brood only. I do not know where or when the autumn 

 imagines lay their eggs. 



Larva. — The larvae are, when newly hatched, pale green in colour 

 with black heads and a dark dorsal stripe, but when the larvae are 

 adult many variations occur and scarcely two are alike. The ground 

 colour varies extremely, as does also the colour and intensity of the 

 dorsal and sub-dorsal stripes. In some specimens, the whole of 

 the ground colour is suffused with red, in others, an almost 

 total absence of the darker dorsal and sub-dorsal lines, leaves the 

 larvae unicolorous green or whitish-green. I cannot perhaps do better 

 than refer to the description of the different varieties of the larvae I 

 published in October, 1888 (" Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," 

 vol. XXV., p. 106). They are as follows : — 



(1). " Ground-colour grey, with very dark reddish dorsal and sub- 

 dorsal stripes. In some specimens of this form the dark colour of the 



