1878.] G9 



ments of wings ; then, after similar periods, follow the second and third moults, and 

 generally after the last they do not move. They have already attained proportion- 

 ately large wing-cases, and in the same skin the transformation to the nymph and the 

 development of the perfect insect in a like space of time takes place ; so that about 

 the middle of June the second generation begins. 



" A female in 5 or 6 days lays 30 or 40 eggs, and by the irregular development 

 of larvffi therefrom it happens that in August an extraordinary number of insects, in 

 all stages of existence, are present on a plant, and ruin it. After the second moult 

 the larvae exude the downy bluish mass, with which an overloaded plant is often 

 entirely covered." 



Then follow the description of the egg, larva, and imago in long detail, illustrated 

 by figures. The size of the perfect insect is not given, but it has the body of ver- 

 milion colour, the wings cloudy, with pale brown markings, the antennae yellow with 

 the joints anteriorly black-brown. The head, which posteriorly is but little narrower 

 than the pronotum, has on the face and posterior part two light yellow dots; the eyes 

 are dark violet, and the legs are almost sulphur-yellow. If any one should find such 

 a creature on the rue it may presumably be Pgylla succincta, and in such a case I 

 should be happy to determine if it be the species. — J. W. Douglas, 8, Beaufort 

 Gardens, Lewisham : IS^A Jane, 1878. 



Fhylloxera in Scotland. — Dr. Masters recently sent me a small vine-leaf (from 

 a hot-house in Scotland), which, although scarcely li inch across, has on it about 35 

 well-marked Fhylloxera-gdlls. I have the best of reasons for believing that this pest 

 is proving as destructive in some hot-houses in Britain as it is to the vines of the 

 south of France, &c., grown in the open. — E. McLachlan, Lewisham : IQth July, 

 1878. 



Singular habit of Chrysocorys festaliella. — I was much startled yesterday with 

 the information that this insect uses its hind-legs much in the same way that Stath- 

 mopoda pedella and S. Guerini use theirs'. Sir Thomas Moncreiffe had had a 

 specimen in a glass-topped box and had watched its movements with great interest 

 for a considerable time. It would rest with its hind-legs stuck out, and then sud- 

 denly jerking down its right leg would make a demi-pirouette to the left ; then down 

 would come the left leg and the right being lifted up again, there ensued a demi- 

 pirouette to the right, or it would put down both legs simultaneously and be propelled 

 straight forward. The motions of a Stathmopoda are very leisurely, but a Chrysocorys 

 is a far more sprightly insect, and the motions are accordingly far more energetic. 



The wonder seems to be that such a habit should never have been observed be- 

 fore. Perhaps, but for the existence of glass-topped boxes now-a-days, the habit 

 would still have escaped observation. — H. T. Stainton, Lewisham : Jtdy, 1878. 



Food-plant of Elachista stab ilella.— The grass this species feeds on is Aira 

 ccespitosa ; it was so stunted and small when I first found it, on the chalk in the 

 spring, that I did not recognise it. The mined tips of the leaves become yellow, 

 exactly resembling the ordinary decay of the leaf. 



The insect seems to me one of the commonest Elachistm round here, and to be 

 out all the season. I find that I have two specimens caught on the limestone near 

 Doncaster. — W. Warren, 51, Bridge Street, Cambridge : July 9th, 1878. 



