THE CHECKERED SKIPPER 359 
that only the mid-rib remains supporting the tube, which is 
only just long enough to conceal it. It then shifts its quarters 
and makes a new dwelling. 
Before its fourth and last moult, the colour of the head is 
a pale-greenish-grey marked with black streaks, one central 
and one down each lobe, the central one bifurcating and 
uniting with the others in front. The body is pale whitish- 
green. There is a dark green dorsal line bordered on each 
side by a fine whitish line, followed by alternate darker and 
lighter lines, then a sub-dorsal dark green line bordered below 
by a conspicuous whitish line, which is again bordered by a 
r 
The Checkered Skipper at rest in sunshine on Slender False Brome 
Grass. Sketched from life. 
pale indistinct green line. After the subsequent moult (the 
fourth), a great change takes place. The head becomes 
entirely of a pale whitish-green and the black markings 
disappear ; also there is an absence of the black warts and 
collar on the first segment, and the conspicuous black mark 
on the last segment is no longer present. 
By degrees the colour gradually changes from green to a 
very pale primrose-yellow; the stripes assume a slightly 
darker shade, and the head becomes pale buff. This final 
colouring is assumed by the end of September. By the 
middle of October the larva prepares for hibernation by 
spinning two broad blades of grass together at the edges, 
