256 THE entomologist's rkcord. 



know how to take it, 6.30 is the time of the day. I see I am credited in 

 the Record with getting pupae of Celcena haworthii, this should have been 

 Glyphipteryx hatvorthana, the pupte of which may be found in old heads 

 c'f cotton grass in April. — G. A. Marker, Liverpool.' Sept. 24///, 1891. 



Essex Marshes. — A visit to the Phorodesma stnaragdaria ground on 

 Saturday, September 12th, proved very successful. My cousin and 

 myself were probably two of the entomologists Mr. Quail speaks nf 

 {E/ii. Record, vol. ii., p. 207), and we succeeded in finding 53 larvae in 

 less than two hours. I might mention that about 45 out of the 53 

 larvce were taken on two small patches of wormwood, no more than a 

 ew yaids square, both the patches being quite close together. About 

 150 other larvas that I know to have been taken this year came almost 

 entirely off the same two patches. — Russell E. James, Homsey Lane, N. 



Larv^ beating in Hants. — I took ninety-four Boarmia roboraria 

 larvae at Lyndhurst, and hope some will come through the winter. 

 I also took forty-three Gonophora derasa larvce last night here. — G. M. 

 A. Hewett, Winchester. 



Stray Notes on Certain Lepidoptera. — Biston liiriaria. I 

 found several batches of eggs of this insect on the bark of lime trees, 

 also one batch on an elm. The freshly-laid ova of this species seem 

 to be of three different colours — yellow, green, and bright metallic 

 purple — they all, however, turn nearly black before hatching. Ennojuos 

 aiigNlaria. I found the young larvae of this insect plentiful in 

 Kensington Gardens this year, feeding on lime, they are easy to find if 

 sought for before the larvae of Orgyia antiqiia put in an appearance. In 

 habits and appearance the young larvae closely resemble Eiipithecia 

 assii/iilafa. They eat clean-cut round holes in the leaves, and these 

 holes never coalesce. The adventitious shoots of the lime seem to be 

 their favourite resort, and they should be looked for at the end of 

 May. I bred an exceedingly variable series from the larvae I took in 

 Kensington Gardens this year, some being exactly like Eiinomos fiiscan- 

 taria, and one was entirely suffused with brown. Eiipithecia pidchellata. 

 I have often wondered how this insect was got at by its parasites, 

 living as it does closely shut up inside the foxglove flower. This year 

 I had the good fortune to catch an ichneumon in the very act. I saw 

 this fly api)arently sitting on a foxglove flower, and, on looking closer, 

 I saw that it had thrust its ovipositor and nearly all its abdomen 

 through the petal, and on opening the flower I found a wretched, 

 i.Q^xxmxrxg pulcliellata larva impaled. The ichneumon must have made 

 a very good shot as the larva was a very little one. Stilhia aiiomala. 

 The proportion of males I have captured to females is about 100 

 to one, and I should like to know if this is the usual percentage. 

 There is a striking difference in the flight of the two sexes : that of 

 the male being exactly like a geometer. Indeed, when Cidaria tesiata 

 and popiilata are about, you cannot distinguish them by their flight. 

 The female, however, buzzes about like a Noctua and keeps close to 

 the heather, and only flies about two yards at a time. Notodonta 

 dictaoides. Truly this insect is a terrible cannibal, but, as far as I 

 can judge, it only devours its own species. I laid down about 250 

 ova on a good-sized young birch tree, which I enveloped in muslin. 

 The larvae had plenty of room, nevertheless, I caught them eating one 

 another on several occasions, and the older they grew the more 



