18,-5. : 111 



Note on the larva of Abia sericea, Linn., Iltg. — The life-history of this conimou 

 sprcios has not been hitlierto described, und I am therefore ghul at being able to give 

 a deseription of the larva. 



When full-fed, the head of the larva is rather small compared with the size of the 

 2nd segment ; the colour is black, with the parts surrounding the mouth somewhat 

 paler ; and the skin is covered with short wliitish hairs. The upper half of the body 

 is dark greyish-slate, and marked as follows : in (ho centre of the back there is a row 

 of twelve black marks ; Joined to these outwardly there is a row of twelve orange 

 marks ; and joined to these again, but placed more towards the end of the body, is a 

 row of larger black marks ; and between each pair of the last mentioned black marks 

 is a small black dot. The lower half of the sides is white. The feet and claspcrs 

 arc white ; and over each are two black marks, one above the other. The skin is 

 ratlier downy, and in furrows; and on each segment arc two rows of white tubercles. 

 The spiracles are brownish, and the last segment is paler than the rest of the body. 



^\^len young the markings are scai-cely, if at all, visible. The egg-laying I have 

 not been able to observe. The food-plant is Scabiosa succisa, the leaves of which 

 the larva; devour at the edges ; and whenever the creatures are touched they roll 

 themselves up into a ball and drop to the ground, ejecting at the same time a fluid from 

 apertures in the sides. This fluid is of the same nature as that given out by Trichio- 

 soma and Cimbex, but the liquid of the Abia seems to me to have a bitterer taste. 

 "When feeding, the head is usually pressed close to the feet. 



The larvse are found from July to October, and spin a large double egg-shaped 

 cocoon in the earth, and change to pupiB in May and June. — P. Camehon, Jun.,, 

 Glasgow : 16th September, 1875. 



Lycaina Alexis hermaphrodite. — I have much pleasure in sending you notice of 

 the capture, by myself, of a hermaphrodite specimen of the common blue {Polyom- 

 matus Alexia). The right pair of wings are male, and left pair female, the difference 

 being equally well marked on both sides. May I ask if this is a rare occurrence ? 

 The specimen is now in the cabinet of Murray Aston, Esq., of Ilatchgate, Ilorley. 

 It was captured in a lane near Ilorlcy on the 1st of this month. May I also draw 

 your attention to the great abundance of the feathered gothic moth {Heliophohus 

 popularix), Mr. Aston having taken nearly thirty specimens, during the last two 

 weeks of August, at a lamp in tlie hall of his residence. Can you inform me what 

 is the food-plant of the larva of this handsome moth ? — T. Mattuews, Station Road, 

 Uorley : September Wi, 1875. 



[About half-a-dozen instances of hermaphroditism in L. Alexis have been 

 recorded. The larva of //. popularis feeds on various grasses. — Eds.J. 



Sphinx convolvuli at Emsworth. — On the IBlh ultimo, a little boy brought to me, 

 screwed up in a piece of paper, a very fine living Sphinx convolvuli, $ , which had 

 been taken in a garden. The moth was kept alive in the hope of obtaining eggs. 

 I lavished a lot of flowers for her sustenance each evening, to induce her to lay on 

 Convolvulus arvensis, which was supplied growing in a pot, but she died on the eiglith 

 day without laying eggs, and a post-mortem examination proved that she had none 

 to lay. — W. BucKLEB, Emsworth : lUh September, 1875. 



