1879. 19 



alarm was felt, as neither water nor tobacco seemed to kill them. — C. W. Mapleton, 

 Duntroon Castle, Lochgilphead, N. B. : 14^/i May, 1879. 



[The beetles, of which some have reached me alive, are the very common Ga- 

 leruca caprece, which usually lives on willows or osiers. Their occurrence in such 

 numbers is paralleled by the swarms of a Galeruca recorded in Dr. Xatter's Ent. 

 Nachrichten, vol. ii, p. 53, in Northern Norway, during a storm. — E. C. R.] 



Note on Sorama Fanthalon, Fair. — I am indebted to the Rev. T. A. Marshall 

 for a specimen of this interesting species. It differs from H. pretus, Cram., in the 

 yellow hind wings, and from S. difflsa, Grote, in the markings on the body. Mr. 

 Marshall states that it is very common at the north end of Antigua from February 

 to September, but that he has not met with it in the south-west of the island. 

 " "U^lL'n flying," he adds, "it is singularly like the common wasp of Antigua {PoUstes 

 Poeyi), having the same distribution of colours." Walker placed this species among 

 the undetermined species of ZygcBnidce, and I am not aware that any author before 

 Mr. Marshall succeeded in identifying it, though Walker subsequently described the 

 same (or a very closely allied species) from St. Domingo, as H. pretus, var. j8 (Cat. 

 Lep. Het., vii, p. 1632). The species of Sorama appear to be local ; thus pretus is 

 recorded from St. Thomas and Jamaica, Fanthalon from Antigua and St. Domingo (?), 

 and diffisa from Cuba. Walker's H. pretus, vars. y and 5, from Venezuela, are pro- 

 bably also distinct species. — W. F. Xirby, Dublin : May 3rd, 1879. 



Curious structure in a Lepidopterous insect. — The Canadian Entomologist (vol. 

 xi, p. 47) has an article on Callimorpha interrupto-marginata by Mr. Sievers of 

 Newport, Ky., in which is the following passage : — " On squeezing the body of the 

 male, two plumes, over an inch long, and of exceedingly delicate structure, issue from 

 the hind segment. I drew the attention of Mr. W. H. Edwards of Coalburgh Va. 

 to these singular appendages, and he sent specimens to Dr. Hagen at Cambridge, who 

 replies, that in ' Psyche,' No. 6, Cambridge, October, 1874, Mr. H. K. Morrison had 

 described similar organs in Agrotis plecta and Euplexia lucipara." Can any of your 

 readers say whether this has been observed in British specimens ? — N. F. Dobeee, 

 Beverley, E. Yorks : May 1st, 1879. 



Cossus Ugniperda. — On the 19th April, four well-grown larvfe of Cossus ligni- 

 perda were dug up in my garden, not far from some young willows. I put them in 

 a jar with some earth ; they burrowed at once, and seemed inclined to stay there. 

 The wiUows do not appear to have been touched by them, and there are no other trees 

 near. Is it not unusual for these to burrow ? — M. S. Jenkyns, Palace Road, East 

 Molesey : May IQth, 1879. 



[It is a common practice for the larvae of C. Ugniperda to wander, when full-fed, 

 from the trees in which they had lived, and to burrow in the earth before changing 

 to pupEB. — Eds.] 



Description of the larva of Mamestra abjecta. — That I am able to offer some 

 account of the hitherto undescribed larva of this species is due to Mr. Samuel 

 Stevens, whose kindness in imparting to me for the purpose all the knowledge he 

 acquired of it when he discovered the larva some years ago, I have most thankfully 

 to record. 



