10 [January, 



grossulariata ; thej were feeding in the burdock, on the summit of Ben Beckley, 

 where he shot a rock dore, the crop of which was completely gorged with them. 

 A few of these larvae have since changed into pupa." And again, in 1845, page 

 1006: — "I made a communication respecting some larvte which were found in the 

 Isle of Skye by my friend Mr. Cooper, of Preston. I saw him last week, and learned 

 that a female Nyssia zonaria had come out this spring from one of the chrysalides 

 which was uninjured. Now it is a question whether Nyssia zonaria is indigenous 

 to the Hebrides or not ; and whether those which have been found at New Brighton, 

 Cheshire, have been originally imported among wool, &c., or rushes that have been 

 used to pack up fish with. My friend informs me that the larvse were in swarms 

 upon the sandhills of Bernarah and several other islands which he visited." 



Evidently this statement was received with perplexity if not incredulity, and 

 Dr. F. Buchanan White, in his valuable " Lepidoptera of Scotland," while omitting 

 this species from the List, referred to Mr. Hodgkinson's statement, remarking, 

 *' Perhaps some one who has the opportunity will try and solve this enigma by 

 finding and rearing the larvae in question." 



This appeal did not apparently receive any response, and the required confirma- 

 tion has now been obtained almost by accident. Mr. William Evans, of Edinburgh, 

 who in the midst of much other scientific work, has given me great assistance in 

 working up the Micro- Lepidoptera of the East of Scotland, has now, with some of 

 these, sent a fine male Nyssia zonaria for inspection. He says, " it was captured in 

 Tiree in the Inner Hebrides in April last (1899) by my young friend Mr. James 

 Baxter, and was sent to me along with some beetles and land shells which he had 

 picked up on the island ; it was flying over the sandhills." Mr. Evans has pub- 

 lished a brief note on the subject in the " Annals of Scottish Natural History," 

 1899, p. 239. It is a curious and interesting confirmation of Mr. Hodgkinson's 

 statement made 55 years ago. — Chas. Gt. Baerett, Tremont, Peckham Rye, S.E. : 

 November, 1899. 



Note on the earlier stages of Sesia bomlylifurmis. — When examining the leaves 

 of Scabiosa succisa towards the end of June, 1895, 1 was so fortunate as to find two 

 eggs of Sesia bomhyliformis laid on the under-side of a leaf. Repeated searches 

 since have yielded no more, though the larva has been found frequently. An attempt 

 to obtain eggs from bred moths also proved a failuj-e. I have not been able to find 

 any account of the egg or young larva of this species. The late William Buckler's 

 figures as represented by the Ray Society were both taken in the last moult, and no 

 account of the early stages is given ; it may therefore be well to record a peculiar 

 feature in the young larva which greatly astonished me. The egg was nearly round 

 with a slight depression on the top, of a green colour, and so far resembled that of 

 its congener, S.fuciformis (which is also found here, on honeysuckle), that I had no 

 doubt as to what it was until a short time before hatching, when the body of the 

 young larva could be plainly seen covered with hairs. This was a surprise, and 

 made me think they might produce a Bombyx after all. When they made their 

 way through the egg shell I could hardly believe I had a Sphinx larva, as they were 

 covered with small black tubercles, bearing forked black hairs, and, although a sort 

 of horn was present on the 12th segment, it seemed too far forward, and more of a 

 bristle surmounted with two black hairs. It was not till after the first moult that 



