1S7S.] ]37 



Leucania extranea and vitellina at Torquay. — I had the good fortune to capture 

 at Torquay, on the 13th September, at sugar, a very perfect Leucania extranea $ , 

 and on the following evenmg a Leucania vitellina $ . On the 16th, I found at rest 

 on grass a second specimen of the last named species. — A. H. Jones, Shrublands, 

 Eltham : 1st October, 1878. 



Heliothis scutosa in Co. Donegal, Ireland.— I took a specimen of this rare insect 

 on the 19th of August last, in the North of Co. Donegal. It was hovering over 

 heather in bloom about 3.30 in the afternoon. The sun was very strong at the 

 time, and there were a great many insects on the wing. I did not know the species, 

 so I sent it to Mr. Birchall, who kindly named it for me.— W. H. Campbell, Bally- 

 nagard House, Londonderry : 23rd September, 1878. 



Description of the larva of Selidosema plumaria. — Several specimens of this species 

 I took in the New Forest, on July 31st last year, deposited eggs. These began to hatch 

 during the third week in August, and the larvse fed well until autumn on the common 

 ling. By the first week in December the largest specimen was about an inch long, 

 but the majority were from half to three-quarters of an inch. They fed sparingly 

 on withered ling shoots and leaves through the winter, and by the end of March the 

 largest was nearly full grown. 



Length about an inch and a quarter, and moderately stout in proportion : head 

 narrower than the second segment, into which it can be partially withdrawn ; it has 

 the face flat, and there is a slight depression on the crown. Body of nearly uniform 

 width throughout, and cylindrical ; the segments overlapping each other however, 

 and each being divided into sections by transverse ribs, together with a somewhat 

 prominent ridge along the spiracles, give it a rather uneven appearance ; the anal 

 segment ends in a rather sharp triangular appendage, and the anal legs, being set 

 widely apart, are very conspicuous : skin smooth, but tough in texture. 



Ground colour uniformly pale stone-grey ; head of the same colour, with a dark 

 crescentic mark surmounting each mandible, and another dark brown crescentic mark 

 above these ; the mandibles are brown, of a still darker shade. A double, very dark 

 brown, almost black, line extends through the dorsal area ; on the anterior segments it 

 is paler and more uniform, but after it reaches the fifth it becomes swollen and darker 

 in the middle of each segment, which gives it a conspicuous and rather interrupted 

 appearance ; sub-dorsal and spiracular lines pale grey, the latter rather prettily edged 

 above and below with chocolate-brown, the brown being most noticeable on the 

 anterior segments : the spiracles, and four very distinct dots on the dorsal area on 

 each segment, intensely black. 



Ground colour of the ventral surface of a yellower-grey than the dorsal area ; it 

 has a broad central pale grey band, enclosing a fine double reddish-brown line ; out- 

 side the band, but adjoining it, on segments 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, is a conspicuous dark 

 smoky mark ; and between the central band and the spiracular region is another 

 faint pale line. 



About the middle of April the first went below the surface, and the moths 

 emerged at the end of July. — Geo. T. Poeritt, Highroyd House, Huddersfield : 

 October Adh, 1878. 



