242 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Ifamestra Brassier "was observed at the end of June, 1881, and 

 Pieris Bransicce was very busy depositing its eggs in great quantity 

 upon the under surface of cabbage-leaves. The caterpillars of the 

 white butterfly did a large amount of damage in 1882 to the cab- 

 bage tribe, especially to plants in the vicinity of houses from which 

 birds were frightened away. 



Cecidomyia tritici and Aphis granaria were very abundant, and 

 did great injury to the wheat crops of 1881 ; the seeds oi Alope- 

 curns 2)ratensis were likewise observed with the orange grub of the 

 wheat-midge upon them. A few were noticed in 1882, but more 

 particularly was this the case on the white wheats. 



After a slight thunderstorm on the morning of July 14th, 1881, 

 many pods of peas were observed with a small red maggot similar 

 to that which is frequently seen upon the leaves of the creeping 

 thistle. Miss Ormerod conjectures that they were Cecidonnjia {Dip- 

 losis) pisce. On closely examining the pea-pods they were invariably 

 found enlarged by the growth of a fungus on the inner coating of 

 the shell. On July 24th several large caterpillars of the turnip- 

 moth {Agrotes segetum) were observed travelling from one side of 

 a roadway to the other. 



Earwigs were moderately plentiful in 1881, and more so in 1882. 



On July 17th, 1881, a large block of furze {Ulex europceus) of 

 several yards in extent was observed with a covering composed 

 of a most beautiful and delicately-formed web that had a very 

 attractive appearance, and upon the upper surface of the web 

 were myriads of microscopically-small red mites. A specimen was 

 sent by me to the Scientific Committee at South Kensington, and 

 pronoixnced by Mr. McLachlan to be Tetranychus linearius. A small 

 patch or two was seen in 1882, but not nearly so brilliant in 

 character as those of 1881. The plants upon which the web was 

 located did not appear to suffer to any extent, although they 

 seemed rather sickly for a time. 



When taking up the mangel-wurtzel crop in 1882, large numbers 

 of the caterpillar of the silver T-moth (Phisia Gamma) were seen. 

 This creature appears to be very abundant in rainy seasons (such as 

 October of the year 1882, when 3.V inches of rain more than the 

 average was recorded for Harpenden), but is less frequent in dry 

 years. These caterpillars do not seem to injure corn-crops, but are 

 exceedingly destructive to newly- planted cabbages, beans, and peas; 

 and the dying-off of young clover plants in this district during the 

 autumn of 1882 may in part be due to their depredations. — /. J. 

 Willis, Harpenden. (^Communicated hy J. Hopldnson.') 



