t. BIStORTATA (cREPUSCULARIa) AND T, CREPUSCULARIA (bIUNDULARIa). 9 



specimens of the second brood of T. crcpmcalarla, and if Mr. Barrett 

 had but scanty material, he might easily have made a mistake. 



If my remarks should appear in any measure to step outside the 

 bounds of fair criticism, I apologise most humbly. No one knows 

 better how much store I set on Mr. Barrett's critical ability than he 

 does himself, for he has helped me immensely. I know he will 

 acquit me of truculence and be the first to acknowledge that a 

 brutally logical argument is the only way to clear up the illogical 

 position that entomologists are at present in with regard to Tephrosia 

 crepitscularia and T. biundiilana. 



(To he continued). 



Habits of the larva of Apamea ophiogramma, with some notes on 

 breeding the insect. 



By W. B. THORNHILL. 



Having for several seasons caught stray specimens of Apamea opJiio- 

 rp-aiinua tlying and at sugar, in this locality (Castle Bellingham, Ireland), 

 and having a ditch with plenty of Aniiuh) phraipiiites growing in it 

 close by, I made a close search for larv;e in the reeds last spring 

 (thanks to bints from my friend Mr. Kane). I began my search 

 early in April, but found no larvae until May 1st. These were 

 identified for me as those of Apamea ophiogramma. From that date, 

 up to May 25th, I continued to find larvfe, though much more 

 sparingly towards the latter date. Those that I found on May 1st 

 pupated in about ten days, thus being nearly full-fed when found. 

 Curiously, practically all I found were about the same size, and 

 all seemed to pupate in about the same time. This fact leads me 

 to suppose that the younger larvae live in the roots, or some not very 

 vital part of the plant, for I found none of my larvte in stems 

 that were not withered in the topmost .shoot, with frass coming 

 from one or more holes in the stem lower down, and none that 

 I found were young larva?, although I searched particularly for such, 

 as the uniform size appeared difficult to account for. The larger pro- 

 portion of the larvae I found had not eaten their way up the inside of 

 the stem from the root, but had evidently crawled up the outside of 

 the stem, and then, Avhen some six to eight inches above the ground, 

 eaten their way in, fed on until they had disposed of all the edible 

 part of the shoot above them, and then bored their way out again and 

 entered another stem, and so on. I shall be glad to learn if others 

 have found the larvae in a young state, and on, or in, what part of the 

 plant. I may add that, although I have plenty of the striped ribbon 

 grass in my garden, about 50 yards from the ditch in question, I could 

 not find a single larva feeding there, apparently pointing to this food-plant 

 as an artificial one. The larvae found, fed up equally well on growing 

 plants, or cut stems placed in water. For the most part they pupated 

 in the earth, although some made use of any loose friable matter 

 they could find, and a considerable number of those fed on the 

 growing plants, pupated in the dead stems of last year's grass, from 

 two to three inches above the ground. All those fed on the cut stems 

 left them, and pupated in the dry earth of a breeding cage. The first 

 emergence took place on June 26th ; thus (allowing ten days from the 



