86 THE entomologist's record. 



I have also bred a long series of Acrolepia pygmceana and Chaiiliodus 

 chcBrophyllellus. — W. Farren. Nov. \ith, 1891. 



Arctia caia. — As Dr. T, A Chapman asks a question {Ent. Record, 

 i., p. 296), whether any one has met with a full-grown larva of Arctia 

 <r(a:/a later than the middle of August, I thought the following notes might 

 be serviceable, and I therefore copy them direct from my diary: — On 

 July nth, 1889, having a female A. caia emerge, I placed the box con- 

 taining her on the lawn, and a male soon paired with her. On July 

 1 2th this caia laid about 500 eggs. On July 20 larvae hatched. On 

 July 25th larva first moult. Being away from home after this, I could 

 not keep an account of the successive moults, but on August 22nd I 

 have a note of caia spinning and others in their last moult. August 

 29th, two specimens spinning, others feeding ravenously. On Septem- 

 ber 7 th, last large caia spinning ; whilst from August 31st to September 

 7th some roo or so had spun up. From September 20th to 28th, 

 95 moths emerged from these cocoons. From these notes it will be 

 seen that I had full-grown larvae as late as September 7th. I may 

 remark that many of this brood, as also some larvae obtained from ova 

 .aid after September 20th, hybernated in the usual way. Of the July 

 brood, I had about one-sixth that came right through to the imago 

 state by the end of September. — G. A. Birkenhead, Downs View, 

 Penarth, near Cardiff. December 28//;, 1891. [I suppose these larvae 

 fed up out of doors and quite naturally, otherwise I am afraid this will 

 be of little use to Dr. Chapman. — Ed.] 



Rarities from Aberdeen. — In a contemporary, Mr. J. B. Hodgkin- 

 son, unintentionally, no doubt, throws a slight on the whole of the 

 Aberdeen collectors, because one of their number sent up a number of 

 undoubtedly Continental species to be disposed of as British. I 

 happened to be in Stevens' sale rooms on the occasion that these were 

 sent up for sale, and they were described as " taken in Sussex and 

 Aberdeen, by a collector lately deceased." This box contained, among 

 other species, Lythria purpuraria, which were set flat and moving on 

 the pin ; Catephia alchyi/iista, a fine bred specimen, the pale Continental 

 form of Xylitia conformis, and I dare say all the other species Mr. 

 Hodgkinson mentions. The names were in the well-known handwriting 

 of an illiterate Aberdeen collector, very much alive, and were mostly 

 written in lead pencil. At the time, I called my friend's (Mr. Bellamy) 

 attention to the matter, and suggested that an exposure of the man 

 would do good, and also called other entomologists' attention to the 

 box, and the fact that none of the amateur lepidopterists present bought 

 the box speaks for itself. As Mr. Hodgkinson wants only such rarities, 

 as these and like instances offer to those v/ho do not capture the rarities 

 themselves, he was given a chance of enriching his collection with 

 what those present refused to buy. But this does not make all Aberdec n 

 collectors rogues. The " mysterious statement of H. satura having 

 been taken in the far North " did not originate here. Specimens un- 

 doubtedly were taken in Aberdeenshire (not in Aberdeen), and one was 

 sent round in the Exhibition Box of the " T?^^*?/-^ Exchange Club," with 

 a full account of the bo7ta fides of the captor. These are not likely to 

 be for "exchange," at any rate at present, but there appears to be no 

 need to throw mud at a colony of collectors, because one of their 

 number isn't straight. I quite appreciate the righteous indignation of 



