238 THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



on behalf of Mr. W, E. Butler, of Reading, two specimens of 4rr///)wit.s- 

 lathonia, sent to him by Mr. B. Stafford Chope as British, and read the 

 following notes received from him : — " As A. lathonia is one of those 

 species, British specimens of which have a high money value, it 

 appears advisable that a record of all captures of such should be made. 

 The first specimen was sent from Axminster, Devon, on April 3rd, 



1894, with the following note : — ' I have sent you an A. lat/ionia as a 

 speciality ; I only took five last season (they came from Roseberry 

 Woods, near Exeter), and I hope you will admire it.' On Dec. 3rd., 



1895, Mr. Chope, writing from 117, Queen's Gate, S.W., offered 

 me another specimen, stating : — ' I have to spare a very fair 

 specimen of latona, one of three I took this year in Hants.' This 

 was forwarded on December 10th, with a letter in which the 

 following reference to the insect occurs : — ' Pie latona. General state- 

 ments such as the one you refer to in Mr. Barrett's new work are 

 usually far from being correct. In that case, I may mention that I 

 myself have taken seven A. latona in the last four years, and I know 

 another collector (who visits the same locality as myself), who took 

 eight this year alone.' Of course 1 wish in no way to prejudice 

 Mr. Chope's captures, but think that I should point out that the capture 

 of five specimens at ' Roseberry Woods ' and the capture of three 

 specimens ' in Hants,' make a total of eight, and not seven specimens, 

 as Mr. Chope concludes. Both specimens are loose on their pins."*'' 



Mr. May read the following notes : — On the Variation in the Colour 

 OF the Cocoons of Saturnia pavonia. — "I have written the following 

 notes on the breeding of Saturnia pavonia as I think that they may 

 possibly be of interest, especially so far as they refer to the coloration 

 of the cocoons. 



"During the winter of 1891, both Mr. Bell and myself received a 

 dozen pup{« of this species from a correspondent in Yorkshire ; these 

 were, without exception, in dark cocoons, and judging by the moths 

 which I bred I should say that the larvae had been starved. HoAvever, 

 Mr. Bell managed to obtain ova from a pair of his, some of which he 

 gave me. KnoAving what poor specimens the parents were, I made up 

 my mind to be particular about the feeding of the larva?, so as to breed 

 larger specimens next year if possible. 



" They were fed on whitethorn, and I can safely say that throughout 

 their existence, they were never Avithout a supply of fresh food. The 

 cage in Avhich they were kept was made of zinc with a glass dome, being 

 light, well ventilated, and having a layer of dry moss and sand at the 

 bottom. Nineteen spun up, some on the glass or zinc, but mostly on, 

 and in some cases under the moss. Of these nineteen, eighteen were 

 more or less pale coloured and only one dark. To return to the rest 

 of the brood (those in Mr. Bell's keeping), he tells me that he kept his 

 larvtie under a glass shade Avithout ventilation, AA'ith the result that 

 they Avere ahvays in a damp atmosphere, often very much so, he also 

 OAvns to starving them a good deal. These Avere also fed on Avhite- 



*In publishing the above we do so entirely without prejudice to the bona Jidesoi 

 Mr. Chope's captures, but we agree Avith Mr. Butler that every capture of this 

 species in Britain should be recorded. We have asked Mr. Chope (in our 

 position as Editor), for information, but Mr. Chope has not answered our letter, and 

 wc would again appeal to him for the name and address of the friend who captured 

 eight specimens in Hants this season. — Ed. 



