196 THE entomologist's record. 



condition of some of the branches, and then by the large quantity of 

 frass pellets beneath. Pushing the stick of his net into the bush 

 resulted in bringing down a larva, and five others were then found by 

 searching. The larvfe had evidently just attained their last skin, and 

 were covered with striking, long spatulate hairs, which, however, soon 

 wore down to bristles, the hairs arising from the transverse series of tur- 

 quoise blue tubercles, with which each segment was ornamented. Before 

 pupating, the bright green ground colour became orange dorsally, and 

 then reddish-brown. Other larvje were seen at Bourg d'Oisans, maimed 

 in the roadway usually, and evidently these had come to grief when 

 searching for a pupating place. Mr. Harrison had also found the 

 larva at Grenoble, and had since captured it in North Italy, in some 

 abundance. Captures in the Isle of Wight. — Dr. Sequeira ex- 

 hibited lepidoptera taken in the Isle of Wight during the first three 

 weeks of August, including SpilosDina fidii/innsa and Xotodonta 

 (lirtaea, taken on gas-lamps at Ryde ; blue females and dwarfs of 

 Pdh/oDunatm iearm, ('i/cuiiris an/idliis, which had been very common, 

 and a brassy specimen of Cliri/sophanus phhwas, taken in the spot 

 where, many years ago, he took a specimen of the var. srJnnidtii. 

 Siigar was a failure. Mr. Tutt, commenting on this exhibit, drew 

 attention to the large number of second broods it contained — Tiiiiandra 

 aiiiataria, Zintdsoina annulata, N. dictaca, and others. Food of larva 

 OF Arctia caia governing hybernation. — Mr. Nicholson said that he 

 had been informed that, if larva? of Arctia caia were fed on lettuce, 

 they would invariably pupate in the autumn without hybernating. 

 SiLK-woRM EGGS HATCHING IN AUTUMN. — Dr. Scqucira recoi'dcd that 

 part of a batch of eggs of Bunibi/.r niori had abeady hatched, 

 although only deposited last July. This he considered strange, as the 

 well-known habit of this species is to hybernate in the egg state. It 

 was evidently an attempt to produce a partial second brood. Tethea 

 SUBTUSA IN London. — Mr. Bate recorded a specimen of T. subtiisa from 

 Dulwich, where he believed it to be rare. Mr. Tutt said that the 

 larvn3 fed on the poplars in gardens at Westcombe Park, and that he 

 had observed the imago occasionally on fences there. Wasp nest 

 ATTACKED Bv Aphomia sociella. — Mr. Tutt exhibited, on behalf of Mr. 

 W. H. Tuck, of Bury St. Edmunds, a wasp's nest that had been 

 attacked by A. saciAla. The nest was surrounded by leaves, and 

 one portion of it was of the hard, leathery (or felt) material, which 

 had been so often described as the work of this insect. Mr. Tutt 

 said that it was at first thought that the insect only attacked humble- 

 bees' nests, but it is now known that it attacks not only the nests of 

 all the Jiomhi, but also of various species of wasps. The nests are 

 attacked in July and August, and the larvse continue their ravages 

 until the bee or wasp colony is destroyed. By September the A. socirlla 

 larva) spin their long tough cocoons, although they do not pupate 

 until the following May or June. Mr. Tutt also exhibited specimens 

 of the wasp {Vcspa si/lrrstris) which Mr. Tuck had kindly forwarded. 



Sept. 15th, 1896. — Aberrations of Epinephele ianira and Lim- 

 ENiTis SIBYLLA. — Mr. May exhibited three specimens of K. ianira, 

 captured in the New Forest, with large pale blotches on the wings, 

 one specimen being almost entirely pallid ; also a specimen of Limenitis 

 Sibylla ab. stcnotacnia, captured in the same locality last June. Pallid 

 patches. — Mr. Tutt remarked that these pale patches were due to 

 arrested scale development at an early st^ge, It had been shown that 



