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BOARMIA SELENARIA. IOI 
— 

ventral surface. Head reddish and square in outline. Length 
23 to 2? inches. Mature caterpillars with this colouring were 
more common than the green variety. 
The pupa is stout, reddish-brown in colour, shining and 
hairless. Length iths inch. The pupal stage is passed in the 
earth, the larva descending the tree and burying itself amongst 
the leaves and soil at the foot. No cocoon is formed. 
The moth is greyish in general colouring with brown mark- 
ings more or less speckled over the wings. Lower edges of 
wings slightly scalloped. Hampson describes it as follows :— 
“Antenne of male minutely serrate and fasciculate; hind 
tibiz slightly dilated. Ground-colour whitish, grey or pale 
fuscous, irrorated with dark brown; abdomen with paired dark 
dorsal specks. Fore wing with indistinct curved and slightly 
waved median line, beco.ning straight and antemedial on hind 
wing ; both wings with grey centred lunule at end of cell; a 
prominent crenulate postmedial line; traces of a sinuous sub- 
marginal pale line; a marginal series of dark specks. Under- 
side pale, with large black cell spots; fore wing with a 
diffused sub-apical black patch. Expanse of wings: ¢ 45— 
50, 2 45—56 millim.” 
Life History. 
The eggs are probably laid by the moths on the twigs of the 
trees. Towards the end of April, when first found in the 
Dun forests by Mr. Milward and the writer, the larve were of 
all sizes, from a few days old to-nearly or quite mature. From 
the defoliated state of the trees the caterpillars had evidently 
been at work for some time. They probably first appear some 
time during March just as the s4l trees, upon which they chiefly 
feed, are bursting into new leaves. The larvz feed voraciously, 
devouring both new and old leaves, flowers, and green leaf stalks, 
the older ones even gnawing down the new green shoots of the 
year. Thus when a band of these caterpillars have swarmed 
over atree, they do not leave it until practically all green 
growth has been stripped from it. The colouring of the dark 
variety of larva is an exact imitation of a sal twig, but they do 
not appear to make any use of the protection thus afforded them. 
‘The sap-green variety is also almost invisible at a short distance 
