170 [August. 



the "Phitouiologist's AVeekly Intelligencer," Vol. IV, page 192, 1858, 

 speaks of the gradual disappearance of the gypsy moth in England, 

 and states that it was claimed by some to have actually become 

 extinct in that country. Mr. Eichard South, in the " Entomologist," 

 Vol. XXV, page 259, 1892, states that entomologists in 1870 seem to 

 have been a little troubled about the right of the gypsy moth to be 

 considered a British insect, referring, of course, to those caterpillars 

 or imagoes which were then found at large. He further says, after 

 speaking of specimens having been found from time to time, that 

 there is no reasonable doubt that this species is extinct in England ; 

 *' that somewhere about the fourth decade of this century, the species 

 began to decrease in numbers, and that toward the end of the fifties 

 it had practically ceased to exist as a wildling in this country." 



Numerous attempts have been made to introduce this insect into 

 England again, but they do not appear to have been successful. 

 Many entomologists have bred it in confinement, continuing until it 

 can now be regarded only as a semi-domesticated species in England ; 

 and complete degeneration of the stock, by the process known as " in- 

 and-in breeding," is possibly averted by the periodical introduction of 

 eggs from the Continent. 



The late Mr. J. Jenuer Weir, in a letter to " Insect Life," Vol. 

 IV, page 138, 1891, said that the gypsy moth had been unintentionally 

 exterminated in England, and further writes, " I think the gypsy 

 moth must have been destroyed simply by collectors." Mr. C. Gr. 

 Barrett, in his " Lepidoptera of the British Islands," Vol. II, page 

 303, 1891, gives a very good history of the occurrence of this moth in 

 England and of its probable disappearance, but without assigning 

 any cause for such disappearance. 



Mr. C. Nicholson read a paper on the life-history of the gypsy 

 moth, before the City of London Entomological and Natural History 

 Society, Sept. 18, 1891, in which he proposed for discussion, among 

 others, the question why this insect had become extinct in England. 

 Mr. J. W. Tutt gave it as his opinion that it was because the insect 

 was not a native. " Its whole history proves it to be an imported 

 species, even when it first became known. Thousands of specimens 

 in all stages had been set loose in various parts of the country, but, 

 with the exception of an odd specimen here and there, no specimens 

 were taken wild. Its abundance in the fens for a year or two simply 

 pointed to the care with which it was put out, and to the temporary 

 existence of favourable conditions. There are thousands of acres of 



