Meteorology* 157 



Apamea iE'thiops, strigiiis, rufuncula, latruncula, Haworth/V; 

 Miselia aprilina, oxyacanthae ; Trachea chi, protea ; common. 

 Acronycta aceris, salicis, rumicis ; Pdlia nebulosa, Phlogo- 

 phora lucipara, Thyatira i?atis ; Plusia festucae, interroga- 

 tions ; Hadena capsincola, plebeia. 



I have taken, this season, Hybernia leucophaearia var. ni- 

 gricaria. On April 29. 1832, I captured jBombylius major 

 in Coterill Clough, Cheshire. — W. H. June 18. 1832. 



A Singularity in the Larva of Tenthredo amerbice. — A 

 friend of mine found the larva of Tenthredo amerinae, and 

 upon his touching it for the purpose of disengaging it from 

 the hawthorn branch upon which it rested, we (for I was a 

 witness of the fact) were somewhat surprised to observe a 

 white liquid spirted from its body in thin fountain-like co- 

 lumns. This it repeated at each successive touch ; but it be- 

 came totally exhausted of the fluid after it had ejected it seven 

 or eight times. This liquid was not forced out through any 

 particular aperture, but was ejected through the pores of the 

 body, apparently by a sudden contraction of the skin. This 

 fact resembles what is related of the larva of Cerura Vinula, 

 and perhaps answers similar purposes. Shaw tells us that the 

 larva of that moth possesses the power of ejecting from its 

 mouth, for a considerable distance, an acrimonious reddish 

 fluid, which it uses as a defence, as it produces an irritating 

 pain if it gets into the eyes of the spectator. The fact I com- 

 municate, regarding the insect in question, if it be its general 

 habit, appears to me to have slipped the notice of all entomo- 

 logical writers. — James Fennell. Nov. 1832. 



Meteorology. — Mildness of the Present Season, at Park- 

 stone, near Poole, Dorsetshire. — As a proof of the extreme 

 mildness of the present winter, I may mention that we have, up 

 to this date, seen no snow in our vicinity ; and that, saving two 

 or three days' frost, which have not been at all severe, no par- 

 ticular indication of the season has been perceived. The pre- 

 valent winds have been from the south and south-west ; and 

 there has been abundance of warm rain, frequently preceded by 

 meteors, some of them very extraordinary in their appearance. 

 The birds are beginning to sing cheerily ; and the gardens 

 are rapidly putting on the livery of spring. We have had 

 stocks and strawberries in blossom all the winter. This even- 

 ing I destroyed four toads, who were " barking " under the 

 windows, to some friends at a distance, whose well-known 

 salutation was distinctly heard across the fields. Though this 

 country swarms with toads, and every house and cottage has 

 its pets, which are familiar to the inhabitants, so early an 



