SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 85 



Tephrosia cREPUscuLARiA AND T. BiuNDULARiA. — I should like to SGG the 

 differences of opinion relating to these species cleared up. These are 

 considered hy some to he one and the same species. I am of opinion 

 they are distinct, the browner species we only take in one wood here, 

 among larch, and its usual time of appearance is from the end of 

 March to the middle of April. The paler (or whiter) species does not 

 occur until the beginning of May, and may be taken until well into 

 June, and is generally distributed in every wood throughout the 

 district.— A. H. Hamm, Hatherly Road, Reading. June, 1896. [Mr. 

 Hamm is quite right. A long discussion in 1886, in The Kntumohxjiat, 

 showed that T. cveiniscnlaria occurred in March and early April, and 

 again in July (and August), whilst the single-brooded T. hiundularia 

 appeared in May and early June. There is some little difficulty in 

 Scotland (Perth), where T. vrcpUHcularia appears to occur at end of 

 April, and is single-brooded. — Ed.] . 



Pupation habit of Argyresthia goedartella. — In The Ento- 

 mi)h)i/isfs Annual, 1858, Stainton writes of Aiyijresthia (jlaminella : — 

 " I have received the larva from Mr. Edleston, who finds them in April, 

 feeding solitarily in the sound bark of oak and horse-chestnut trees, 

 revealing their retreats by protruding a little reddish frass from the hole." 

 This habit reads much like that of A. ijoedartella, which Dr. Chapman 

 and myself have observed in great numbers in the woods around 

 Hereford, in April, burrowing into the crannies of the birches. The 

 larvie are in such numbers that the trunks of the birch trees are 

 covered with silk threads, suggesting that the larvae have fed at the 

 top of the tree, and only come down to find suitable places for pupa- 

 tion. Certainly the larva of A. (/oedartella does not feed in the bark. 

 Does that of A. f/laucineUa .'—3. W. Tutt. June, 1896. 



Habits of Prestwichia aquatica, an aquatic Hymenopteron. — It is 

 with very great pleasure that I record the capture of two specimens 

 (both females) of the aquatic Hymenopteron — Frestin'chia cujuatiea, 

 Lubbock, wdiich I found in a pond within twenty miles of Charing 

 Cross. This insect crawls under water on various aquatic plants, 

 using its leijs for swimming, the wings being tightly closed. It has 

 not been recorded since its first capture in 1862, thirty-four years ago ! 

 How is it that so veni few entomologists pa.y the smallest attention to 

 our British Parasitic Hymenoptera ? 



I also captured, at the same time and place, a single specimen of 

 the beautiful Mymarid, ('arcqJiraetus cinctus, Haliday = Poli/neina 

 natantt, Lubbock, which uses its irini/st for swimming or flying under 

 water. — FredEnock,F.L.8., F.E.S., 21, Manor Grardens,Holloway,N. 

 [Mr. Enock is to be congratulated on his success, following as it does 

 so rapidly upon his discovery of the habits of Cairijihractus cijietiis last 

 year. — Ed.] . 



Attempted copulation of Saturnia pavonia and Cerura vinula. — 

 I was somewhat surprised, wdien looking into a large breeding-cage 

 this week, to find a male S. pavonia vigorously (but vainly) endeavouring 

 to copulate with a female C, vinula. Has the cross ever occurred, and, 

 if so, what was the result ? I should be interested to learn if any of 

 your readers have noticed any proclivity to wander from their own 

 species in matters amatory with S. rarjiini. — W. B. Thoi!Nhill, 

 Castle Cosey, Castle Bellingham. Mai/ I'dth, 1896. [We should 

 suppose that two species so distant as S. pavunia and C. vinula Avould 



