SATURNIA    PAVONIA.  325

There  are  certain  directions  in  which  variation  of  the  larva  occurs,
on  which  detailed  information  would  be  exceedingly  useful,  e,g,,  the
maintenance  of  characteristic  features  of  any  of  the  earlier  stadia  in
individuals  that  have  reached  the  adult  stage,  etc.     Newnham  says
{Ent  ReCj  ii.,  p.    199)  that  some  larvae  have  broad  velvety   rings
around   each   segment,   in   others,   they  are  reduced  to  small  rings
around   each   tubercle ;    whilst  the  tubercles  themselves  offer  many
variations,  bright  yellow  (the  commonest  form),  orange,   pink,  white,
black    and   purple,   the    three   last-named   forms   being   the    rarest.
Scharff  notes   an   adult   larva  near   Lough    Bray,    in    the    Wicklow
mountains,  in    August,    1894,   which  was   "  entirely   black,  with  the
exception   of  the  yellow   tubercles,   the   green  ground  colour  being
reduced  to  a  frontal  triangular  patch  and  two  lateral  streaks  on  the
head,  a  pair  of  dorsal  spots  on  the  mesothorax  and  the  two  spots,
on   either  side  of  each   abdominal   segment,   which   together    form
a  broken  spiracular  line."     Bacot  observes  {EnL  ReCy  iv.,  p.    199)
that  he  "  obtained  a  brood  of  young   larvae   in  June,    1892,    on  a
whitethorn  hedge,  near  Thundersley ;  from  a  ^  and   ?    reared  from
these  larvae,  a  batch  of  ova  was  obtained  in  1893,  the  larvae  hatching
in    about    20   days.     After  their  first  moult,  the  larvae  varied  very
widely,  some  of  them  being  entirely  green  or  pale  yellow  without
any   black,   some   remaining   (until   their  third   moult)    quite  black,
with  the  exception  of  a  reddish  or  brownish  stripe  along  the  side.
The  latter  retained  a  large  proportion  of  black  in   their   coloration
until    nearly    fullfed,   while  others,   exhibiting    nearly    every    grade
between   these  two  extremes,   could   be  picked   out   of  the    brood.
