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This is one of the finest additions that has been made to the British list for 

 many years. It is not unlike Peridea trepida in general appearance, but may at 

 once be separated from it by the generic character of having hairy eyex, those of 

 trepida being smooth and bright. Its fore-wings are shorter than those of trepida, 

 but nearly as broad, of a dull grey with a faint under shade of yellowish. The two 

 transverse lines are of a darker grey, and they very nearly meet on the dorsal margin 

 just behind the " prominent " tuft. Between these lines is an indistinct lunule in a 

 ler spot. Hind-wings grey. Antennae reddish. It is the largest European 

 species in the (restricted) genus Notodonta, and is widely distributed in Europe. 

 Its larva feeds in September o)i aspen {Populus tremula), and is scarcely to be dis- 

 tinguished from that of N. ziczac. It was formerly placed in the list of reputed 

 British species, but no reliable record of its previous occurrence in this country 

 seems to exist. — Chas. Q. Barrett, King's Lynn, Norfolk : April 15th, 1887. 



Aporia crataegi in England in the last century. — I find Albin, 1720, has this 

 species in his second plate, witliout any note of its being a rarity ; he also gives a 

 reference to Eay, Hist. Insect., p. 115, n. 5 ;* its continuance, therefore, in this 

 country has been of some duration, and must have covered many cycles of 

 favourable and unfavourable seasons. 



I am inclined to think that when persistent and unlimited " collecting " comes 

 to the aid of bad weather, the chances of the sui'vival of a large day-flying species 

 must be a good deal diminished. The protection of " small birds " must have some 

 influence in such matters. — J. Hellins ; Exeter, March ^\st, 1887. 



Aporia cratcegi in Devonshire. — As to queries inserted in the last number of 

 Ent. Mo. Mag., respecting Aporia cra^o?^/, whether it is indigenous to Devon or not, 

 I have stated in my Fauna of Devon, Section Lepidoptera, p. 13, exceedingly local 

 and rare, and, so far as I can learn, the only spot known for this species in the west 

 is Moreton Hemstead. In an annotated copy of Turton and Kingston's Natural 

 History of the District, in the hand writing of its late owner, R. T. Abrahams, Esq., 

 it is stated, " taken by Mr. Williams near Moreton Hemstead." Tliis must have 

 been at least forty years ago. I have myself been a collector of all orders of insects 

 in Devon since the year 1849, and not a single specimen has fallen under my obser- 

 vation during this time, neither have I heard of one being taken in any part of the 

 county. From this I infer that this species is not indigenous in Devon, but that it 

 is an immigrant from the continent. — Edward Parfitt, Exeter : April ith, 1887. 



Pedigree Moth-hreeding. — Touching the interesting experiments suggested by 

 Mr. Galton, and the views expressed on p. 238 of the March (1887) number, I would 

 second Mr. McLachlan's recommendation of the common Sericaria mori. It has 



[* Ray's Historia Insectonim, a jjosthvimous work, published in 1710, only enumerates the 

 insect, without saying whether common or otherwise, nor does it give any localities. Moses 

 Harris, in his Aurelian, published in 1706, says of this insect : "They fly in meadows near coi-n- 

 fields, and, as they do not fly very fast, are easily taken in your net." He mentions no localities, 

 but after describing the habits of the larvaj he says, when they are nearly full-fed : " Xow is the 

 best time to t.ake them, they being easily seen on account of their size, as they lie on the web 

 together, which they do not for.sake till they go in search of a convenient place for their change." 

 So that even in those days the gregarious larvaj and the slow-flying butterflies were only likely 

 to fall too easy a prey to the picture-making collectors of insects.— Ens.j 



