184 [January, 



2nd, I took a second figure of it, for it had changed considerably, both in coloui' and 

 texture of skin, and had grown to be one inch and three-quarters in length ; the 

 skin now tense, smooth, and very glossy, of a dirty, somewhat flesh, colour ; on the 

 10th, it had invested the bottom of its domed nest under the grass with grains of 

 earth, and lay hidden in a complete cocoon, though very soft and fragile ; I opened 

 the cocoon about the middle of July, and found within a large, circular, rather 

 flattened mass of light fawn-coloured silk, and in the centre the dark red head-piece 

 of the larva ; this I had scarcely placed on a table and covered with a glass, than 

 there issued from it in quick succession a swarm of Microgaster alvearius, which, 

 perhaps, to the number of more than one hundred, I hastened to destroy with 

 chloroform : the other variety was about one inch and a half in length, of a dark 

 smoky-grey colour above, and lurid reddish beneath, it was more than once by night 

 observed to be at the tops of the grass nibbling at the seeds ; it was figured on the 

 15th of June, and died three days later, from the wounds caused by about thirty 

 middle-sized ichneumon larvae eating their way out of its body. 



The other circumstance was this. In the first instalment of little larvse from 

 Mr. Dunsmore was an individual, which, in point of colouring, for some time pre- 

 sented no particular variation from its companions, but eventually became noticeable 

 by its outstripping them in growth, when I began to pay it much attention, and 

 gradually became aware of well-defined diffei'ences developing themselves each time 

 it moulted, until at length, as I had begun to expect, the special characteristics of 

 polyodon appeared to convince me it was that species ; it continued to grow, and by 

 the month of April it had reached the length of two inches (longer in fact than 

 those I described in 1875), with a body of proportionate stoutness, and looked quite 

 a formidable creature ; and to leave no doubt at all in the matter, I bred the moth 

 on 8th of June. 



Now, had I kept all these larvae together, I might — selecting the biggest examples 

 for the purpose- — have taken my description from an ichneumoned specimen, or from 

 the polyodon larva, and should thus have missed the true characteristics oi fiirva ; 

 these are printed in italics in the foregoing account, and it is specially to be noted 

 that the head, plates, and warts, are not black, but reddish-brown. — William 

 BircKLEE, Emsworth : October 26th, 1877. 



Captures of Lepidoptera in the New Forest. — From July 30th to August 9th, I 

 spent in the New Forest ; the former part of the time in company with the Rev. T. 

 W. Daltry, M.A., of Madeley ; and the last day with Mr. J. G. Ross, of Bath. 

 Lepidoptera were very scarce, and we worked hard for very little. The best species 

 taken was Cleora glahraria, but we only got a few of it, by beating the lichen-covered 

 branches. Perhaps we were rather too early for it, as the local collectors were 

 breeding it daily the last few days we were there. Catocala sponsa &\\A promissa'v^eve 

 both very abundant at sugar, and we secured a fine long series of each ; very 

 singularly, however, hardly anything else came to the sugared trees. Selidosema 

 pliimaria was aiso very plentiful, but worn ; we secured a fair number of females, 

 and I have now larvas feeding. Butterflies were in great variety, and included 

 Leueophasia sinapis, the second brood of which was just appearing ; Colias Edusa, 

 of course ; Argynnis Paphia, in swarms, with a few of its var. Valezina ; Vanessa 

 cardui, Limenitis /Sibylla, common j Lyccena JBgon, in thousands, &c., &c. Wo saw 



