Page:Life-histories of Indian insects - Microlepidoptera - T. Bainbrigge Fletcher.djvu/104

 T. BAINBRIGGE FLETCHER 31 "The larva feeds between the young unexpanded leaves of a common climbing Argyreia and also of Ipomosa populifoUa, eating the upper cuticular surface of the leaf into tell-tale patches. " The full-grown larva may be described as stout, rather flattened ; head pale yellow ; other segments a pale greyish-green, interstices of segments (only visible when expanded) darker green ; dorsal surface pale ; warts with a little orange-yellow about their bases, often forming a distinct orange-yellow or reddish median stripe ; an ill-defined broad dark lateral shade appears to be caused by the contents of the alimentary canal, as it disappears towards the anal extremity when frass is voided ; hairs white, usually very conspicuous. " In confinement the larva generally wanders off the f oodplant to pupate but occasionally attaches itself to the upper surface of the midrib of a leaf. I have never found the pupa in nature. " The pupa is usually suspended horizontally to a vertical support, being closely adpressed ventrally to the resting-surface by the double set of crem as- tral hooks. Its colour, which is variable, is some shade of pale green, but it always has a broad reddish medio-dorsal stripe. These colours fade into a greenish -brown shortly before emergence, which takes place after about six days, the moth generally appearing in the late evening, quite contrary to the usual habits of plume-moths. The pupa is comparatively extremely small, and it seems marvellous how such a large moth can emerge from a, pupa-case which does not seem sufficiently large to contain its abdomen alone ''(^). Mr. Senior-White has also reared this species at Matale from Lantana, which is an unexpected foodplant. AGDISTIS TAMARICIS, ZELL. Adactyh, tamaricis, Zeller, Isis^^^ 1847, 899(^). (,^^'^, Agdistis tamaricis, Zeller, Linn. Ent., VI, 325(-) ; Milliere, Icon., Ill, 237, t. 126 ff. 5-7(3) . Hofmann, Deut. Pteropli., p. 56(4) . wism., Entom. Rec, XIX, 5i-55 (1907)(5). Herhertia tamaricis, Tutt, Brit. Lep., V, 127-132 (1907)(6). This is a widely-distributed species known from Europe(i), Cape de Verdes Islands(5), West Africa(5), Algeria(5), Cape Colony(5), Egypt, Arabia(S), T.^-CM-w and Karachi(^). We have a specimen, apparently of this species, from Peshawar. The larva is described by Chapman(^). It feeds on Tamarix, but has not been found in India as yet. This sjiecies may be looked for in all sandy areas where Tamarix grows commonly.