1902.] G7 



bor and November, but it was only by walking a long distance in very cold weather. 

 About six years ago, however, I happened to walk that way during the daylight, 

 and I naturally looked about as I went, and found one on a lamp post, and more on 

 the ground near to it, and I was not long in coming to the conclusion that it waa 

 not necessary to travel the road at night to get specimens, and that there were more 

 of them and much easier to take in broad daylight. During the last two months I 

 have taken upwards of 50 specimens in this way. On two occasions I have come 

 across such numbers about one lamp (10 to 12) as to lead me to think they had been 

 " assembling." Can it be that occasionally odd ones hibernate before pairing ? — 

 Edward Halliday, Akroydon, Halifax, Yorks: December 12th, 1901. 



Larvee of Sphinx conrolvuli in Northumberland. — Will you allow me to 

 chronicle what I believe to be an absolutely unprecedented occurrence. Mr. John 

 Proudlock, a young collector, though not a very young man, residing near Morpeth, 

 Northumberland, had some strange larvre sent him from a place called Boiling Well, 

 near Seaton Sluice, in the same county. Much interested in them for their size and 

 beauty, he went down himself to search for more. They had been taken on a 

 garden hedge, and he soon found there were plenty of them. Counting two or 

 three that had been crushed by the servant girl, as " nasty crawly things," the total 

 capture was between 50 and 60. A specimen, and a spray of the food plant (which 

 proved to be Convolvulus sepium) were sent to me for identification. The larva 

 sent me was unfortunately crushed in the post, but was easily identified. All the 

 others fed well and all went to earth, but unfortunately did not produce the perfect 

 insects. At my request he has dug up the pupae. All are dead, and some decayed 

 and broken up, but sufficient remains were found, including one complete pupa, and 

 the loop-like trunk-case of another, to render certain the identification. Each had 

 formed a large smooth cavity in the earth, some seven inches deep, others deepor, 

 to one foot. — JonN E. Eobson, Hartlepool : January, 1002. 



Note on the egg laying of Nonagria sparganii. — Though quite young larva? 

 of this species were long ago described and figured by the late William Buckler, 

 nothing, T believe, was then known of the eggs, or where they were laid. It may, 

 therefore be worth while to record that a batch of eggs came under my observation 

 in September, 1899. These were laid — much as those of N. typhee are — all glued 

 down firmly (in single file), in a groove formed by the involute edge of a leaf blade 

 of Iris pseud-acoru.i. The cement was visible, shining like gum arabic, and so stuck 

 down the margin, that as it withered and turned brown, the eggs were almost con- 

 cealed. They were very small for the size of the moth — of a spherical shape, with 

 much flattened poles, and even a slight hollow at the top, very finely striated, the 

 colour being of a very light brown, thus assimilating wonderfully to the brown leaf 

 during the winter. They did not hatch till the 11th and 12th of May, 1900, when 

 the young larva? very soon commenced mining the leaves of the Iris, which had 

 been provided for them. From their manner of feeding, but little could be seen of 

 them. Some, however, reached the stage of the smallest figured by Mr. Buckler, 

 and two or three others became nearly full-grown larva?. Probably it will not sur- 



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