1877.] 231 



busily iuvestigatiiig every flower as to permit itself to be boxed without the inter- 

 vention of a net. There must be a station for this species somewhere in the woods 

 which border the upper part of the Haven, but I have not been able to find it. 



Sesla ichneumoniformis. — -Again rather common on Lotus coriticidatus in the 

 quarries. I noticed several specimens flying over the banks of stones just before sunset. 



Selenia iUustraria. — One specimen occurred in the only good locality for 

 Geometrce known to me in the neighbourhood — the gai'den at the back of the house. 



Lobophora viretata. — Again tolerably common, sitting principally on trunks of 

 sycamore during the day, and flying about bushes for a few minutes from 9 to 9.15 

 p.m. I found a single larva in the garden, feeding on the cultivated variety of the 

 guelder rose (^Viburnum opulus), and reared several from the egg on the same plant. 

 I suspect, however, that it also feeds on the sycamore. As far as my observations 

 go, this species is completely double-brooded. All my larvae from eggs laid by females 

 of the spring brood fed up together and all the perfect insects appeared in the 

 autumn ; and this appears to me the more conclusive because having sent away, to 

 friends who wanted them badly, all the eggs that I could obtain from early females, 

 I retained and reared the larvae from eggs laid by late females of the spring brood. 

 Each female, in confinement, lays very few eggs, and with extreme reluctance, 

 although kept in the open air. The dm-ation of the first brood of moths appears 

 to be from about May 6th to June 5th, of the second brood from August 17th to 

 September 7th. The duration, however, must depend on the weather : in this 

 neighbom-hood some furious storm of wind and rain usually finishes them. 



The garden also produced Eupithecia virgaureata, albipunctata, axid coroiiata. 



Dianthaecia capsophila. — A larva, found on Silene maritima on the coast in June, 

 produced a small specimen in August. This is a new locality for the species, but is 

 unfortunately too far away for night work. — Chas. Gr. Baerett, Pembroke : 17^A 

 January, 1877. 



Metamorphosis of Stauropiis fagi. — Through the kindness of the Rev. Bernard 

 Smith, I had the opportunity last summer of observing the larva of Stauropus fagi, 

 and as there appears to be some misconception current as to its habits, I venture to 

 trouble you with a few notes. The larva is curiously economical in the consumption 

 of its food, eating every scrap of a leaf, and generally the stalk also, before attacking 

 a fresh one. The first pair only of the legs are used for grasping or steadying the leaf 

 on which the caterpillar is feeding; the long second and third pairs, which appear to 

 terminate abruptly and without a claw (but I regret to say I did not examine them 

 with a lens as I ought to have done), seemed to be used as crutches or walking- 

 sticks, and perhaps also as feelers, the ends (so to say, the soles, of the feet) being 

 evidently very sensitive. The gait of the larva is crustacean-like, reminding me of 

 the cautious, gingerly way in which many of your readers have no doubt seen 

 Palinurus quaclricornis stalking about the bottoms of the tanks in the Crystal 

 Palice Aquarium, as if troubled with corns. When teased, the caterpillar strikes out 

 rather viciously with one of its long legs (or, as I have suggested, walking-sticks), 

 and I can imq,gine them very effective weapons for its protection from a prowling 

 Ichneumon. 



I had the pleasure of twice watching a larva change its skin ; there was not the 

 difficulty I expected from its singular form and varying diameter ; the three pairs of 



