460 



Zoology* 



inspecting its proposed future habitation, as well as the temporary stations 

 of rest where their numbers collect soon after swarming. {Philosophical 

 Magazine.) 



The Deat}i*s-head Hawk Moth. {fig. 110). — As an instance of animals 

 following the progress of cultivation, it may be mentioned that the Death's- 



head hawk moth (Acherontia A''tropo^) has been found near Catrine, Ayr- 

 shire : the specimen was sent to the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. It is 

 very doubful whether this insect, whose larvae feed on the jasmine, the po- 

 tato, and other exotics, was produced in Britain before their introduction. 



— J.R. 



The Vapourer Moth {B67nbi/x antlqua). — Sir, The practice of " sembling," 

 as it is called, i. e. exposing a female moth for the purpose of attracting the 

 males, is well known to collectors of insects, and has often been adopted 

 with success. In addition to the remarkable instances of the wonderful 

 instinct by which the males are guided, recorded Vol. I. p. 332. of your 

 Magazine, I beg to offer you the following, though by no means so interesting 

 an example of the fact as those mentioned by your correspondent, J. H. 

 Davies, Esq. A friend of mine once 

 reared from the caterpillar a female 

 specimen of j?6mbyx antiqua (Vapourer 

 Moth) {fig. 1 1 l.a), which sex of the insect, 

 it is well known, is incapable of flying, pos- 

 sessing, as it does, only the bare rudiments 

 of wings. Wishing to try the experiment 

 of sembling, and thinking this apterous fe- 

 male a peculiarly fit subject for the pur- 

 pose, he placed it on a card, and carried 

 It into the garden, where a male moth {b) 

 immediately came and settled on the card 

 as he held it in his hand. The helpless female accidentally fell to the ground 

 among herbage, so thick, that any attempt to recover the specimen would 

 have been almost hopeless, had not the male led to the discovery by flutter- 

 ing directly to the spot. A circumstance which serves to heighten the suc- 

 cess of this experiment is, that the male thus introduced to my friend's no- 

 tice, was the only specimen he saw during the autumn ; jBombyx antiqua, 

 though a common insect in most seasons, being in others scarcely to be seen. 



— W. T. Bree. Alledey Rectory, Nov. 15. 1828. 



Death-Watches. — These little creatures, whose portentous click once 

 made stout hearts quail, and still inflicts no small terror on many an an- 



