I.IKK-HISTOKIKS. ;^45? 



positing on August 4th, UiO'Z, at Pettti \\ ood, near Uickley, Kent, on 

 sallow (SaKv capven). Oriiiii: About Inmi. in length by 5mm. broad, 

 and the same high, of a dull mahogany -brown colour, (juitt' siuooth, 

 slightly depressed in the middle, inside of a brilliant metallic sheen, 

 deposited in batches of two or three on midiib of leaves, and also in 

 batches of from three to fifteen on the bark of suuiU twigs ; the egg, 

 state lasted fifteen days. Lana : Emerged from ovum August 19th, 

 leaving a minute circular aperture at one end, the portion of the ovum 

 cut away for the purpose of egress being retained as a " door." LarvjB 

 in first instar are dirty-white in coloui', the head black, and the pro- 

 thorax with a chitinous plate of the same colour ; the young larva? 

 eat a small quantity of the leaf, leaving the fibres, and then, after 

 feeding externally for about twelve to thirteen days, they descend the 

 nndrib till they arrive at the junction of the leaf with the stem, and, 

 at this corner, they mine then- way into the stem ; they advance down 

 the stem, entering the main branch at the axil of the leaf, causing it 

 to drop off, and leave a quantity of frass at the entrance point ; they 

 moult at the time that entrance is being effected, and are then nearly 

 white, with the head and prothorax approaching brown in colour. 

 The larv* in their first instar have a quantity of hair on them, but 

 are practically naked in the second instar, i.e., after the first change. 

 One individual was observed to be feeding between the outer bark and 

 the wood of the twig. Parasite: It was observed that the eggs 

 deposited on the twigs produced a minute hymenopterous parasitic fly 

 with transparent wings and black body ; length from wing tip to wing 

 tip l-.jmm. — Mekvyx G. Pax,meh, 24, Frindsbury Road, Strood, Kent. 

 Septeiiiber 'SOtJt, 1902. [We should like to know definitely what Mr. 

 Palmer means by "a quantity of hair on them." What is the 

 character and arrangement of the hair? The 1st instar would appear 

 to be in this species more specialised than the 2nd instar. It is a 

 matter worthy of further consideration. — Kd.] 



Rko vakiety of the larva of Sphinx LmusTKi. — In lUickler's 

 lAirrae llrit. Butts, and Mollis, ii., pi. xxii., fig. 2, is the picture of a 

 most unusual aberration of the larva of Sphin.r lifjnstri. From the 

 letterpress {loc. cit., p. 110) one learns that the larva was found in the 

 grounds of Colchester workhouse on privet by Laver, on September Gth, 

 1882. I had never seen this form ali\e, and it was, therefore, 

 with pleasure that I received, on October 22nd, two larv.e closely 

 resembling this form from Mr. Head, of Scarborough, who writes : — 

 " Most of my larvte of S. lif/ustri were more or less of this colour this 

 autumn, and I believe the very cold weather is the cause of it. I have 

 often had a few dark specimens when the larvae have been late in feeding 

 up." One of the larv* was already moribund, the other of a tine rather 

 deeper dorsally than that of Buckler's figure, the upper part of the 

 oblique lines pink instead of slaty, the spiracles yellow instead of 

 green, and the sides in front of the lower portion of the oblique lines 

 and the area below the subspiracular flange black, the caudal horn very 

 shiny black, the anal flap also black, the [)rothoracic plate and he;id 

 blackish without the green markings shown in Buckler's figure ; there 

 is no green mark behind the CiUidal horn, and the prolegs and ventti' 

 are of a deep purple-black, except that the pale mark on the outside of 

 the prolegs is fairly distinguishable. — 1. W. Tutt. October 2otlt, 1902. 



