1891 1 _ 73 



one species, thus prove to be distinct. They occur together in various 

 northern locahties in Britain, as Rannoch, Braemar, Scarborough, &c. ; 

 in Scotland, G. dermesto'ules is, perhaps, the commoner of the two, 

 while at Scarborough, G. quadrigiittatus is much more abundant than 

 G. dermestoides. A large number of specimens collected by Mr. J. J. 

 Walker in Italy, at Civita Vecchia, all belong to G. quadriguttatus, 

 none of these showing the slightest variation in the elytral spots. It 

 may be safely assumed that all British specimens with distinct spots 

 are quadriguttatus ; while those which are unspotted or merely have 

 the shoulders and an indeterminate patch near the apex of each 

 elytx'on a little lighter are, with rare exceptions, dermestoides. In some 

 examples of G quadriguttatus the basal or the apical spot is obsolete. 

 Many of the Scarborough specimens of G. quadriguttatus have the 

 spots large and sharply defined, these examples resembling the normal 

 continental form ; Scotch examples are rarely so well marked. The 

 two insects are treated as distinct by Candeze, who, however, did not 

 observe the conspicuous male characters to be found in the front tibise 

 (noted by Thomson) and on the first ventral segment ; the chief 

 characters used by him being colour, and an imaginary difference in 

 the length of the elytra. — Gr. C. C] 



DESCRIPTIOX OF THE LARVA OF HYPENA ROSTRALIS. 

 BY GEO. T. PORRITT, F.L.S. 



My first acquaintance with the larva of Hypena rostralis was 

 made at Deal at the end of August, 1888, when I found a full-fed 

 specimen wandering about near some hop plants in a garden, and 

 evidently searching for a suitable place in which to spin up. I placed 

 it in a cage in which were other species, and saw no more of it until 

 the imago appeared in the month following. On the 24ith of June 

 last I next saw larvae through the kindness of Mr. W. R. Jeffrey, of 

 Ashforrl, who sent me two from a few he had reared from eggs deposited 

 by a captured $ . The ? moth, as is well known, hibernates, and 

 deposits her eggs in spring or early summer ; but whether the (J also 

 hibernates and pairing is effected in the spring, or this takes place in 

 the autumn, I cannot say. Mr. Jeffrey tells me the eggs from his 

 moth were deposited about the 15th of May, and hatched on the 2Gth 

 of the same month ; the larger of the larvc^e received was nearly full- 

 grown, so next day I described it as follows : — 



Lengtli about an inch, and slender proportionately ; the head has the lobes 

 rounded, is the same width as the second, but narrower than the third segment. 

 Body cylmdrical, widest in the middle, attenuated very gradually to the anal ex- 



