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there ; old ones were found among tlic course sands 

 left exposed by tke lowering of the water in the 

 streams. I once liad about fifty of them; my 

 father requested me to place them in a tea-saucer, 

 and having done so, my mother poured several 

 spoonfuls of strong vinegar over them, when these 

 stones apparently suddenly became possessed of 

 legs, and went " crawling " around in every direction. 

 —John H. Klippad, Ohio State Agricultural Geo- 

 logist. 



NOTES AITD QUERIES. 



TriE Queen OF Spain Fiiitillaey {A. lathonia). 

 — This butterfly is so exceedingly rare in the British 

 islands that little is known of its habit s_ here, and 

 the brief accoiait given by Mr. Boolh of its capture 

 in Jersey has its value, especially as he notes that 

 the species occurred in luctrn-fiekls. Its occa- 

 sional occurrence by solitary individuals only, in 

 Kent, Suifolk, and various places on or near the 

 coast, has seemed a remarkable thing, since we find 

 that its brethren of the same family, when they do 

 appear, are generally in parties, the fritillaries being 

 fond of "assembling." All, or almost all, the 

 specimens which have been thus taken have been 

 on the wing in autumn, when I presume the Jersey 

 insects were also taken, yet on the continent of 

 Europe it is undoubtedly double-brooded. Any 

 further particulars which Mr. Booth may have to 

 communicate about the "Queen of Spain,",: as 

 observed by him, vrould be very acceptable, I am 

 sure, to the readers of the Entomologist or Science- 

 Gossip.—/. R.S. C. 



GoLD-EiSH. — Buckland, in his " Curiosities of 

 Natural Plistory," says, "One cause why these fish 

 do not increase, is that they devour each other. The 

 spawn is eaten, and the young fish also, by their 

 comrades. To keep up my stock I have been obliged 

 to take out the spawn, and keep the young fish dur- 

 ing the first few months of their lives in separate 

 vessels." — C. IFairond. 



BiKD-FLY. — An ornithomya abounds on the short- 

 horned owl, the well-known species often met with 

 by sportsmen in broad daylight. We have not seen 

 it mentioned that a species of bird-fly is common on 

 the short-horued owl. — R. G. 



Balanifoem Oak-galls. — I inclose a twig from 

 an oak which is covered with such galls, looking a 

 good deal like barnacles. They are probably the 

 work of a species of Cynips, perhaps C. Sieholdli, re- 

 corded as nev/ to England in the last number of the 

 Entomologisf s Annual. The insects are all fiown.^ 

 R.O. 



The Dodder [Cuscuta). — I found this plant in 

 our county of Stafford for the first time in lb70, 

 growing on red clover. Last year there v.'as no 

 clover in the field, but the plaut appeared on some 

 vetches; consequently it must have increased by 

 shedding its seed, and the young plaut must at first 

 have lived an independent life. I presume the 

 species is C. trifolii, Bab.-r/^. G. 



Stag Beetle. — Both the male and female stag 

 beetle will bite when sufficienthj irritated. The fe- 

 male will often do so, but the nsale not so frequently. 

 Some years ago 1 had brought to me a very fine 



male, L. ccrnus, Vi'hich had been caught on the pave- 

 ment in Holborn. 1 found it diificult to kill. (I used 

 then to place a little carbonate of ammonia in a small 

 box, and insert the insect, when it would as a rule 

 quietly die.) After being in the box some minutes 

 and the insect not showing any signs of dying, I 

 took it out with my fingers, and immediately expe- 

 rienced a severehite. The insect bit me so severely 

 as to make me wince. Although the great length 

 of the (male) mandibles would seem to tell against 

 their power to bite, still the insect can exert suffi- 

 cient force to deter any one from trving a second 

 time.—//. B. b\ 



Ottepv. — On the 3rd of April a full-grown female 

 otter was captured at Slyal, Cheshire. It was caught 

 in a trap which had been set for rats, and was only 

 held by two toes of its left hind foot. It crossed 

 the BoUin with the trap on its foot, and tried to 

 conceal itself in a rabbit-burrow, but the chain of 

 the trap having got entangled in a bush, prevented 

 the otter from getting more than half its body un- 

 derground. Another otter was caught near the 

 same place on the 13th February, 1S7Q.—G.H.II. 



Scarcity of Moths, &c.— Your correspondent 

 " J. R. S. C." seems to me to draw unnecessarily 

 r.pon his imagination in trying to account for the 

 alleged scarcity of moths and butterflies after a damp 

 winter. Even the fact requires to be substantiated, 

 since the years of greatest scarcity of these insects 

 have been those which followed a wet summer rather 

 than a wet winter. Unquestionably a superabun- 

 dance of rain is exceedingly destructive to larva 

 both in summer and Vviutei', and probably also to 

 jjuppc, which are exposed to it ; but the great ma- 

 jority of pupra are protected by a silken or earthen 

 cocoon, or placed in a sheltered position, and it re- 

 mains to be proved that moisture can, in their 

 natural retreats, get at them to any serious extent. 

 "J. E,. S. C." seems to overlook the facts that in mild 

 winters the ground is open to the careful investiga- 

 tion of birds ; tiiat predaceous beetles and their larvee 

 are lively and require food ; that those formidable 

 foes to pupai of all kinds, the earwigs, are also 

 able to carry on their destructive researches at a 

 time vvlien there are but few flowers to serve them 

 as food ; and worse than ail, that mice are able to 

 search out their favourite tit-bits at the roots of 

 trees, the sides of palings, on hedge banks, and else- 

 where ; so that, without the assistance of damp and 

 mould, there is abundant reason for any scarcity of 

 perfect insects. Of hybernating larvse the very 

 large majority feed upon low plants which are al- 

 ways to "be obtained ; how then can the larvae be 

 tempted forth by the mildness of the weather, and 

 killed iy starvation? And in the case of the few 

 species wliicli pass the v/inter in the egg state, it is 

 iiardly necessary to remind "J. R. S. C." that the 

 same amount of warmth which hatches the eggs pro- 

 vides the food upon which the larva? feed, while in 

 those cases in wtiich the eggs naturally hatch before 

 the opening of the leaves, the catkins of some trees, 

 and the bark of the young shoots of others, serve 

 the voung larvae for food until the leaves appear. — 

 C.G.B. 



Shoi;e Wainscot {L. U floral is). —\ have much 

 ])leasureiu announcing this district as a new locality 

 for Littoralis. 1 believe it is only known in three 

 other places at present; viz., Isle of Wight, New 

 Brighton in Cheshire, and Lytham in Lancashire. 

 Erom the nature of the coast I thought that Lit- 

 toralis ought to be here, and that it only wanted 



