1907.1 209 



searched in vain for larvee. It seems natural to suppose that E. ratzehurgiana was 

 originally introduced into that spot with the spruce tree in question, and had 

 strayed from it to the /'. muriitda, but, strangely enough, I failed to find even a 

 single larva of it on the spruce ! — Eustach R. Bankes, Norden, Corfe Castle : 

 Julv loth, 1907. 



Evetria buoliana, Schiff., feeding on Pinus pinaster. — Sorhagen [Kleinschmet. 

 d. M. Brand., 92 (1886)], in addition to Pinus sylvestris, gives P. picea, abies, 

 larix, strobus, insignis, nigricans, and benthamiana, as food-plants of Evetria 

 (Retinia) buoliana, Schiff., but I have never seen Pinus pinaster so vecovAeA, nor 

 had I ever observed the larva on any pine or fir except /'. sylvestris until 1902. 

 In that year, however, I bred, on July 19th, a small but perfect female of E. buo- 

 liana from a larva found, on June liSth, inside an irregularly-shaped ball of I'esin, 

 about 9 mm. long by 7 mm. broad, on a twig of P. pinaster. The bud, which 

 Bhould have produced a shoot that spring, had never started growth, owing to a 

 space in the wood of the previous year's shoot immediately below it having been 

 hollowed out by the larva, thougli the contents of the bud itself were intact. The 

 resinous ball was fastened to the side of the previous year's shoot and to the bases 

 of three or four of the green leaves, and exactly resembled, in miniature, the ball 

 of resin in which the full-fed larva of E. resinana is found : firmly attached to its 

 exterior was a pinaster male catkin. On ray breaking away part of the ball, the 

 larva at once set to work, and made good the breach with a tough wall of smooth 

 white silk. It pupated inside the chamber, and emergence took place through the 

 upper part of the silken wall, adhering to the outside of which was a collection of 

 frass that the larva had extruded. A similar resinous domicile found on the same 

 tree three days previously was untenanted. 



It seems strange that the parent female should have cared to oviposit on this 

 old pinaster, which stands alone, for there is a large plantation of Scotch fir within 

 about 100 yards of it on the S.W. side, and many young pinasters within some 50 

 yards in the same direction : perhaps she was carried thither by a strong wind, a 

 continuance of which may have prevented her from retracing her course. With 

 reference to the imaginal habits, it may be mentioned that, on July 23rd, 1902, I 

 beat out of Scotch fir, and secured, a pair of E. buoliana, whilst in cop., at about 

 7.30 p.m. 



The above observations refer solely to E. buoliana, Schiff., and not to E. pini- 

 colana, Dbld., which has been sunk, erroneously in my opinion, as a variety of the 

 former, both by Meyriok [fIB. Br. Lep., 470 (1895)], and by Staudinger and Rebel 

 [Cat., pp. 102-3, No. 1851 (1901)]. E. pinicolana, Dbld., which averages rather 

 larger than its ally, has the costa of the fore-wing more arched, tlie silveiy markings 

 distinctly whiter and far more clearly defined and conspicuous, and the ground-colour 

 much more uniform throughout than buoliana, in which this last is paler, and more 

 suffused with orange, anteriorly than posteriorly. The nature and constancy of these 

 differences, and the entire absence of any intermediate forms, would, I believe, 

 convince any one, who could compare together lengthy series of both insects, that 

 they are specifically distinct, and a close acquaintance, such as I have enjoyed, with 

 both in nature would certainly render " assurance doubly sure." 



