SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 153 



would be, Can it, by in-breeding, be obtained from Jtnidentaria ? If 

 the red is the original form, it almost seems that the two must be now 

 quite distinct, as typ\ca.\ /ermgaia shows so very little tendency to throw 

 unide?itaria-\\\i^ forms. As Mr. Richardson says: — "A itw careful 

 experiments ought to settle the question ; " and the experiments I 

 would suggest to those lepidopterists having leisure and inclination are 

 I. Pairing, if possible, the type forms; or red unidetUaria with type 

 ferrugata. 2. In-and-in breeding, with judicious pairings, and detailed 

 notes of results. But even if every opportunity of breeding from red 

 unidentaria be taken, much good work may be done, as these seem 

 generally to throw " mixed broods," and the extremes could be com- 

 pared with typical ferrugata. 



In conclusion, I shall be only too pleased to hear from any entomo- 

 logist who has any information on this subject ; we have worked 

 independently too long, and it is high time that all results were 

 compared and put on record : it may then be hoped that ere long the 

 question will be definitely settled. — Louis B. Prout, 12, Greenwood 

 Road, Dalston, N.E. April 26i/i, 1892. 



Hepialus lupulinus larva. — I have read Mr. Fenn's comments on 

 my Hepialus paper, but he is certainly wrong in saying that the larvae 

 of lupulinus feed " in a long vertical silken tube " (the italics are 

 mine). In the first place I have never seen the burrow of any Hepialus 

 larva lined with silk, and such a lining would be a disadvantage to the 

 larva were it so lined. In the second place their burrows are not 

 vertical. How could they get at their food, the roots of plants, were 

 they confined in a silk-lined vertical tube ? When ready to pupate, 

 such a tube is formed, sometimes more or less vertical, but frequently 

 at a very slight angle. In this, the pupa can move about with great 

 case, but it must be remembered the confinement therein is not the 

 disadvantage to the pupa it would be to the larva, and when ready to 

 emerge, it presses its way to the surface by use of the knots or spines 

 in the segments. So far as my observations extend, I have never 

 seen the burrow of a feeding larva lined with silk, nor yet vertical. — 

 John E. Robson, Hartlepool. 



Cannibalism, especially of Scopelosoma satellitia. — When any 

 character has been held up to opprobrium through the ages, in the 

 pages of history, there comes a time when one arises and shows that 

 the whole matter was a mistake and that the arch villain of history was 

 in reality a most estimable character. I think that something of this 

 sort admits of being done on behalf of S. satellitia. In the Manual, 

 Stainton says : — ^" Young collectors must be cautious not to admit the 

 larva of the Satellite into their breeding cages, as it has a depraved 

 taste, and, instead of confining itself to a vegetable diet, it eats with 

 avidity other larvce, not disdaining to eat those of its own kind." So 

 high is Stainton's authority, that I find that not a few entomologists 

 have acted most closely on this advice, and have no experience in the 

 matter. For my own part I must admit that I always declined the 

 acquaintance of the larva of satellitia till comparatively recently, and 

 then I admitted it strictly as Stainton directs, cautiously, and noting its 

 behaviour. This year I had a number of ova of satellitia., which re- 

 semble and are laid singly on twigs like those of Xylina and not at all 

 like those of Cerastis, to which the moth is supposed to be allied, and 



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