90 THE entomologist's record, 



until some agriculturist with an eye to improving the drainage of his 

 land, straightened the bends, which, awakening the stream from its 

 lethargy, sent it hurrying along carrying the sedges with it, and alas ! 

 P.festiiccE too. — J. Collins. April 6th, 1891. 



Time of Appearance of Acontia luctuosa. — In reply to the 

 Rev. E. C. Dobree Fox, Acontia lucttiosa is very uncertain in the date 

 of its appearance at Reading. Sometimes it is out at the end of June ; 

 in another season the middle of July is the time for it, and occasionally 

 it is the beginning of ^^.ugust before I get any. It is very tormenting in 

 this way. — W. Holland. April T,rd, 1891. 



Referring to Mr. Holland's account of the uncertain appearance of 

 Acontia luctuosa, I may mention that two \ears ago I took a lovely 

 example at light in my house, at about i a.m. I have never seen the 

 insect here before or since. C. Fenn, Lee. April, 1891. 



Retarded Emergences. — I took a large number of larvje of 

 Cymatophora ridens in the New Forest during July, 1888, the 

 greater part of which emerged in the spring ot 1889, but not all. I 

 have kept ^ome half dozen pupae ever since, with the result that one 

 emerged yesterday, and I hope that the remainder will do the same. Is 

 not this a most unusual length of time for pupoe to lie over? at least for 

 this species. — Joseph H. Carpenter, Johnson Villa, Gleneagle Road, 

 Streatham. April 28///, 1891. 



In 1S84 I fed up larvos from 25 ova of Endromis versicolor, from 

 which I reared in 1SS5 (April 19th) i S and (April 20th to 25th) 8 $ ; 

 and in 1886 (April 3rd to 20th) 12 S only, giving a total of 21 

 specimens. From another lot that I fed up in 1888, I reared in 1889 

 (March 30th to April 4th) 2 $ only; and in 1890 (March 22nd to 

 April 4th) 5 ? and (April i6th) i $ , giving a total of 8. In both cases, 

 the larger number of moths emerged in the second year after the larvse 

 had fed up, but whereas, in the first case, those that lay over until the 

 second year were all males, and those that came out in the first year 

 were nearly all (all but one) females, in the second case it was just the 

 other way about, males the first and females the second year. — R. Adkin, 

 Lewisham. "jFune, 1891. 



Respecting Miss Kimber's note (a7ite p. 39 ) on Endromis versicolor lying 

 over in the pupa state, I recollect, about fifteen years ago, in course of con- 

 versation with the late INIr. Tester of Balcombe in Sussex, who was well 

 known at that time as an intelligent collector, that he told me he was 

 then breeding E. versicolor, which had been in the pupa state for five 

 years. He also told me that Notodonta carnuiita frequently lie over, 

 and I believe it is an acknowledged habit among the Notodontidce. — 

 C. Fenn, Lee, April, 1891. 



Mr. Carpenter of the observatory here kept a note of Sesia bonbeci- 

 formis in 1889, and he found they emerged (and were taken drying 

 their wings) on the poplars in the observatory garden between 5 and 

 8 a.m., none appeared after the latter hour. Last year he did not see a 

 single specimen, although from the dust, etc., at the bottom of some of 

 the trees, it would appear that larvae were in the wood. Does this 

 insect remain two years in the larval and pupal stages ? — T. Maddison, 

 South Bailey, Durham. March, 1891. 



With regard to Mr. Maddison's query ; the analogy of other internal 

 feeders such as Cossus lignipetda and Zeuzera cescuH suggest that 



