318 THE entomologist's record. 



Fry. Lot 450, " Lunaris, fine, taken by Mr. Bristow, Horsebridge, 

 Sussex, June 4th, 1877." I would call attention to my previous 

 remark on Sifnia muscidosa. This (1877) must have been an excellent 

 year in Sussex. The specimen fetched 20s. Lot 451, " Luitaris, 

 taken by T. Salvage on the Brighton racecourse, June, 1877." Why 

 has Mr. Salvage never recorded this ? It fetched 63s. Lot 452, 

 " A grand boiaris $ , taken by Mr. Dale, Polegate, May, 1880." This 

 specimen produced 40s. Now, I venture to state that this specimen is 

 such a marvellous aberration that there is scarcely another like it in 

 Europe. Yet it produced but 40s. ; whilst Lot 453, also caught by 

 Mr. Dale, and from the " ditto," evidently at the same time and place, 

 was bought by Mr. J. B. Hodgkinson for 35s. Lot 475 contained 

 2 DrASEMiA KAMBUniALis, without data. These, with 215 other moths, 

 were also bought by Mr J. B. Hodgkinson for 18s. Lot 477 and 478 

 contained Kbulea catalaunaus and Margarodes unionalis, which, 

 with 34 other insects, went for 12s. ; whilst a Mecyna poltgonalis, 

 " Warren's collection, very fine," went, with 215 other specimens, for 

 16s. I would ask entomologists to compare these with the prices 

 fetched by the same species in Mr. Tugwell's collection, and I should 

 like to know the real ground upon which />. ramburialis and A\ cata- 

 laiinalis are considered British at all. I will only draw attention to 

 one other notable lot, ri:., Lot 275, which contained " yiohr, 2 ; 

 latlitmia, 2 ; eri/t/miccphala, 2 ; zinrkrnii, 1, and box from Parry, Can- 

 terbury." Evidently these are j\ist as Parry sent them to Mr. Fry, 

 and these give an excellent idea of how easily even a box full, so to 

 speak, of reputed British specimens find purchasers. The buyer at 

 the sale paid 18s. for this lot, i.e., 2s. 7d. each. Evidently, therefore, 

 he considered them British, for the average price of Continental 

 specimens is : — A. niohe, 3d. ; A. lathonia, l|-d. ; (>. eri/throrrp/Ktlu, 

 2id. ; A'. zincke7iii, 6d. I am most anxious not to prejudice the sale 

 and reputed captures of any Ixma-jide British species, and only trust 

 that some of the above queries will clear up the British authenticity of 

 many of the insects mentioned, and to which I have drawn attention. 

 — John Bull, London. 



Brotolomia meticulosa double-brooded. — I see, according to New- 

 man, that Jj. meticulosa is single-brooded, the autumn larvie hyber- 

 nating and producing the imagines of the following autumn. 1 have 

 repeatedly taken this species in spring, and last December collected a 

 large number of larvae, all of which piipated in a short time, and 

 have all emerged in my breeding cage during February and March. 

 No doubt this insect is well-known to be double-brooded. — E. F. Studd, 

 M.A., B.C.L., F.E.S., Oxton. March, 1896. 



Food-plant of Poecilocampa populi. — It may be of interest to 

 note that on December 4th, 1893, a female P. jiojtuli gave me a batch 

 of eggs, which hatched from February 3rd — 14th, 1894. I tried them 

 with various foods then procurable, and at last found that they would 

 eat lettuce, on which I bred them right through. They spun up in 

 April, and the imagines appeared in November, 1894. — Ibid. 



Early kprinc; notes. — After no winter to speak of, the spring 

 opens here with the calendar, lireplios was flying on the 15th. On 

 the 18th, I'objploea fiaricornis appeared in nmnbers. I have taken 

 over 40 specimens in two mornings, among them some pretty aberra- 

 tions. — A. R. Grote, M.A., Hildesheim, Manh %lst, 1896. 



