226 THE entomologist's record. 



agency, I may say that the pods of A. farnei^iana, on which F. Ihia 

 deposits its ova, and inside which the larva feeds and often pupates, 

 were at one time much used in Egypt for the tanning of the native soft 

 leather. Owing to the decline of the industry, the use of other 

 tanning materials, etc., they are seldom used now for this purpose, 

 but it is quite conceivable that pods containing larvas or pupaj may 

 have been imported in recent years into Syria from Egypt. The 

 sweet, and to our noses, cloying scent of the flowers of A. farnesiana) 

 makes it a favourite tree in Syria. It grows in a semi-wild state about 

 Beirut, and is cultivated in many gardens in the town. With plenty 

 of its foodplant in easy reach, and a climate warmer than that of 

 Alexandria, V. livia should find no difficulty in establishing itself at 

 Beirut. So much for these two theories. Should the first prove 

 correct, I should expect to see Castaliiis jesons, the larva of which (I am 

 informed) feeds on the same foodplant, give ground before V. livia at 

 Beirut (assuming the latter to have established itself). The voracity 

 with which one larva of T^ livia will devour another in the same pod, 

 notably when the victim has fixed itself for pupation, has always 

 seemed to me to explain the rarity of CasttalinH ubaldus, a near ally of 

 C. jesoKs, in Egypt. I have only twice seen this little "blue" at 

 Cairo, and have but one specimen, a worn 5 taken in November, 1907, 

 while ovipositing on the acacia. One more point and I have done. 

 I stated some time ago in the Ent. Record that I believed that the ants 

 which attend the larva of V. livia devoured its frass. I have seen 

 them pick up pieces thereof and carry them in their mandibles. But 

 at Beirut, I was lucky enough to catch an ant in the act of " stroking " 

 a larva of T'. livia with its antennae, which would suggest that the 

 larva possesses the eversible gland found in so many Lycjenid 

 caterpillars. 



A few notes on the life-history of Cucullia lucifuga. 



By P. A. H. MUSCHAMP, F.E.S. 



Judging from the literature at my disposal, the life-history of 

 Cncidlia lucifiKja seems to be little known, and what information I 

 have managed to gather has proved wonderfully incorrect. Un- 

 fortunately I did not think of hunting up this information until to-day 

 and it is now too late to enlarge upon the few notes I jotted down on 

 my breeding-box. They will, however, prove, I hope, more useful and 

 rather more interesting than the delightful " caterpillar-is-green-and- 

 feeds-on-cabbage " style of description given by Seitz, Spuler, Berge 

 and Co. I will give my notes exactly as I find them jotted down on the 

 paper attached to my breeding-box, notes, which, to my inexperience, 

 setoi rather wonderful and decidedly instructive. 



On June 27th a Cucullia lucifuga flew in through my study window, 

 and, after banging about the room in an orthodox manner, settled on 

 my writing-table. I boxed it, because there happened to be chipboxes 

 lying on the table; and put it on one side with the intention of looking 

 at it the next day. On the 28th I was too busy to open the box and 

 did not find time to do so till the afternoon of the 29th, when, to my 

 no small surprise, I found 22 promising young larvfe waiting to be fed 

 and their worthy mother still alive in the midst of her descendants. 

 Trusting to their appetites I gave them a piece of dandelion leaf which 

 they promptly attacked with great vigour and execution. The next 



