207 



NOTES. 



By J. C. F. FRYER. 



{Entomologist to the Board of Agriculture.) 



1 . Charaeas graminis, L. 



Statements as to the stage in which this well-known pest passes the 

 winter are conflicting. Most continental writers suggest that the eggs 

 hatcli within a month of the time they are laid (August — September) 

 and that the species hibernates as a young larva. English entomologists, 

 on the other hand, with the exception of Miss Ormerod, state that 

 hibernation takes place in the egg stage. Under the circumstances the 

 following observations may be of interest. A female C. graminis captured 

 at Richmond (Surrey) in September, 1918, laid about sixty eggs which 

 were divided into two batches. One batch was placed on a small piece 

 of flower-pot and except for the protection afforded by a cover of 

 perforated zinc was fully exposed to the weather. The other batch was 

 kept in a dry, unheated shed in a glass jar. The latter batch received 

 no moisture while the former was constantly soaked by rain. Although 

 the conditions were different in the case of the two batches, hatching 

 began on the same day — April 7th, 1919, and the great majority of 

 the larvae left the egg within the two succeeding days. No larvae 

 were hatched in the autumn. It would therefore seem that C. graminis 

 passes the winter in the egg stage, a point which has a definite economic 

 bearing. Imras and Cole (Joiirn. Board of Agriculture, xxiv. No. 5) 

 suggest that the recent outbreaks of Antler Moth in Derbyshire and 

 other districts are to a considerable extent due to the cessation during 

 the war of the custom of burning hill pastures during March and April. 

 The fact that the eggs of C. graminis hatch in April supports this view, 

 for while hibernating larvae buried in tufts of grass or hidden under 

 stones might probably escape the effects of a superficial burning, the 

 eggs or newly hatched larvae would be much more likely to succumb. 



2. Silotroga cerealella, Oliv. 



This small moth, often known as the "Angoumois Grain Moth," is 

 regularly imported into Great Britain by means of infested cargoes of 



