1910.J 217 



Whilst appreciating Mr. Simley's arii'unicnt that protection from insecti- 

 vorous birds, during the critical period immediately following emergence from 

 the pupa, would probably be of great value to a species in its struggle for 

 existence, the fact must not be overlooked that newly-emerged Lepidoptera 

 have far greater powers of escaping their enemies than one would expect. 

 Until tlieir wings are dry, and any protective coloration, or the like, has had 

 time to come into operation, instinct teaches them that, when distvirbed, their 

 best chance of safety lies in running away, or jumping backwards off the 

 surface to which they have been clinging and then falling perpendicularly, &c. ; 

 and the strength of their legs, together with the remarkable agility that they 

 can then display in the use of them, has often impressed me greatly. — Eustace 

 E. Bankes, Norden, Corfe Castle : August 2nd, 1910 



Capture of Cero])latiis lineatus, F. — On June 13th I took on a window here 

 another specimen of this rare Mycetophilid. It is a ? , and so far no more have 

 been seen, although a sharp look out has been kept. — F. C. Adams, Fern Cottage, 

 Lyndhurst: July 1st, 1910. 



Early appearance of Leptoniorphus walkeri, Curt. — A specimen of the above 

 was also taken on same window on June 7th, which seems an unusual date, all 

 my previous captui'es having been made diu'ing September or October, with the 

 exception of one on August 25th, 1901. — Id. 



A note on Aphidivorous larvse. — Mr. Claude Morley's note on Baccha obscuri- 

 pennis, Mg. (p. 192), is interesting, as proving it to be an Aphidivorous 

 Dipteron ; but the conclusion that its food consists exclusively of Aphis pruni, 

 De G., in a state of Nature should not, I think, be formed too hastily. My 

 experience of Aphidivorous larvse is that they are not, as a rule, at all particvdar 

 as to diet, and probably the statement, " the larvse feed on Aphides or Coccidse," 

 though somewhat vague sovinding, may be actually more correct than to say, 

 that any particvdar Dipteron is confined to one species of Aphides. I have fre- 

 quently bred Diptera from the egg, or from larvse taken wild, and have always 

 found that these bred specimens never showed the slightest reluctance to accept 

 Aphides of other species than those on which they were found. That this 

 should be so is hardly surprising, when one considers the length of time such 

 a species as Syrphus ribesii, L., is on the wing (generally from May to October), 

 and the comparatively short period dvuing which many species of Ajjhides are 

 in existence. In my experience with other AphidivoroiiS larvse I have found 

 newly hatched Chrysopids attacking luihatched ova of the same species, and 

 later, when partly or fully grown, devouring other individuals of their own 

 species. They also feed readily on any species of Aphides ; at least, I have 

 never yet found them refvise any species, and I have tried them with many. 

 Some that I have feeding now have even attacked and fed on parasitized 

 Aphides ; and, on one occasion, a specimen of Chrysopa flava. Scop., was found 

 devouring a larva of the small rose feeding Tortrix, Dictyopteryx hergmanniana, 

 L. In a recent attempt to breed a species of Coccinella from the egg, I found 



