l82 THE ENtOMOLOGIST*S RECOftC. 



KeTARDED ElIERGENCES OF PeTASIA NUBECULOSA, AND HINTS AS TO 



PAIRING THIS specibis IN CAPTIVITY. — I had, in April, a few Petasia 

 nubcculosa from 1895 larvae. Pupae of 1893 and 1894 of the same 

 species are still standing over. I obtained two pairings of those bred, 

 and obtained fertile ova. The insects are not difficult to pair if placed in 

 a large box, and out in the open air or near an open window. I 

 noticed that they did not copulate till the fourth or fifth night after 

 emergence. The eggs were laid, scattered over the gauze at the top 

 of the large box in which I kept the females. — T. Maddison, South 

 Bailey, Durham. 



Retarded emergence of Nyssia hispidaria. — I bred a male Xyssia 

 Jiisjiidaria this year, which had been three years in the pupal stage. — 

 C. Fenn, F.E.S., Lee, S.E. 



Spring lepidoptera at Carlisle. — A cold backward spring has 

 caused lepidoptera to be correspondingly late in appearing, and with 

 few exceptions they have been scarce. The sallows were productive 

 of little but the common Taeniocampids, yet these are quite as 

 interesting as rarer species which vary little. I got a nice lot of 

 TaciUDcampa stabiUs abs. pallida, (Mujua, suff'usa and rufa. The ab. 

 vbliqua is much the commonest form here. T. histabilis varied from 

 a pale grey form with dark reniform to the extreme ab. fii-scata. The 

 type of T. (lotldca is rare with us ; ab. rarici/ata predominates. A few 

 T. jiojiuletl turned up in two new localities ; it is never common here. 

 Pauolis jiiidjienla, usually abundant, was represented by one specimen. 

 Parhnobia rabricusa was not scarce, but in poor condition. At rest on 

 tree trunks, Xiilocauipa areola, Tephrosia hiiuuhdaria, and Lobdjdtora 

 carplnata were in fair numbers, while Antidea badiata, A. nvjrofasciaria, 

 C'idaria sujf'ioiiata, and Curciiiia unidcntaria, were netted along hedge- 

 rows at dusk. Callophrya rubi has been much scarcer than usual ; 

 two outings in quest of it only gave me a dozen. Euchlo'e cardamincs 

 is just coming on. Night searching for larvae, with one exception, 

 has been unremunerative : Nuctua trianyuluin, N.xantho;irapha, X. haia, 

 Graphiphora amjur, Triphaena fimbria, T. comes {orbona), Leucania 

 lithan/i/ria, and Melanippc iiiontanata, represent what I met with, 

 the majority very sparingly. The exception to the general scarcity 

 was Xoctua castanea. The larvae of this species have been very 

 abundant on heath. Though most are to be swept at dusk, and 

 during the night, a good many may be taken in the morning and in 

 the late afternoon. During the middle of the day they appear to 

 drop to the roots of the heath. I find that they feed voraciously on 

 hawthorn in captivity, preferring it to their natural pabulum. A few 

 Aspilates .striiiillaria were swept along with X. castanea, and also one 

 or two Lycophotia striyula. Larvfe of the last named will not feed with 

 me. A few days after being taken, I find them at the bottom of the 

 breeding pot, dead or dying. The choicest sprays of heath they 

 disregard, and I cannot get them to eat hawthorn or any other plant. 

 On one of the " mosses " here, my friend Mr. Wilkinson and I met 

 with larvcT3 of Ai/rotis ayathina. In less than half-an-hour we swept 

 twenty about half-an-inch long. While gloating over these, we were 

 rudely interrupted by a gamekeeper, and our acquaintance with 

 A. ayatliina in its haunts was abruptly terminated. A letter to the 

 proprietor of the " moss," asking permission to collect there, was 

 politely replied to in the negative. I am afraid that we shall not 



