6 
days of their existence, in fact Mr. Holland kept some of his later ones 
in the boxes where they were hatched without troubling to offer them 
any food until they changed their skins, and then put them into the 
breeding cage. Describing the newly emerged larva, Buckler says that 
“its length was 3/16 of an inch, even with the posterior segments and 
filaments erect. In all respects, both as to form and colour, it presented 
a complete miniature representation of the adult larva. The head, the 
second, twelfth and thirteenth segments were dark brown, all the rest 
of the body and legs of a lighter reddish-brown, the entire surface 
very glossy.” Moults : —Buckler mentions two eggs which hatched 23rd 
July, larvae moulted 28th, and again 6th August (becoming then much 
lighter than before), moulted yet again 29th August and spun up 17th 
September. There is also in the Larvce of British Butterflies, etc., a very 
full and graphic account by Mr. Buckler of the last moult of a larva he 
was watching, which moult he describes as of a very protracted and 
exhausting character. He noticed on the 3rd September that the larva 
had fixed itself on a twig, and that it gently lifted the fore parts of the 
body up and down. Throughout the next day it rested with the first 
and occasionally the second pair of ventral prolegs raised. Mr. Buckler 
then describes the struggles of the larva during the moulting, on the 
5th September, which commenced at 10.30 p.m. and ended at 12.50 
a.m., a period of 2f hours. He states also that this last change of skin 
always takes place at night. Adult Larva: —The adult larva is, I 
expect, well known by every one in the room. A few points in its 
structure however deserve notice. The anterior legs are perhaps the 
first things which attract attention. The front pair are short, and 
appear to be used principally to guide the leaf whilst feeding. The 
second and third pairs are very long, rather thin, but slightly swollen 
at the joints, and when at rest are neatly folded back. I exhibit 
these legs mounted. The double humps on the back, too, are very 
conspicuous, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 having these, but those on 8 and 9 are 
more rounded than those on 5, 6, 7. Those on the last named 
segments have at the apex a small spine or hook; 5 and 6 have 
each, in addition to the humps, a rather deeply cut crescent-shaped 
mark on the sides, which shines in certain lights with a dark 
iridescent green colour. 12 and 13 are much swollen and spread 
laterally, and there is a series of small dark greenish-black raised 
dots on the marginal line dividing the ventral from the dorsal 
area. The two anal filaments or tails are, like the crescent-shaped 
marks, purplish-brown in some lights and dark green in others. The 
adult larva may be said to be dimorphic—there is an ochreous-brown 
form and a dark-brown form. Occasional^, however, you get one 
intermediate in tint. The dark form is sometimes very dark, and has 
a purplish tinge. On looking at a number of the larvae, the contrast 
between the two colours is very noticeable. The Rev. Bernard Smith, 
in his “ Notes on the Notodontkke,” called attention to the dark variety. 
The “Walsingham Collection ” at the Natural History Museum contains 
specimens of both forms. Food Plants of Larva: —From the number 
of food plants given by various authors, fagi would appear to be a 
general tree feeder. Stephens (Illus. of Brit. Entomology ) gives beech, 
oak, hazel, birch, lime, alder and sloe. The Rev. Bernard Smith (“ Notes 
on the Notodontkke ”), oak, beech, hazel and birch, and says they 
“ have even occurred on wild rose and hawthorn,” and states that it 
