192 [January. 



On the spinning of the larva of Balaninus Irassicce, Fab. — On a previous 

 occasion (Ent. Mo. Mag., vi, p. 137), I gave some particulars of the life-liistory of 

 this beetle, mentioning ititer alia, that tlie full-fed larva usually droj^s to the ground 

 to form there its earthen cocoon, coated inside with silk, but that in some instances 

 the larvse contented themselves with fabricating an umbrella-shaped silken roof, 

 underneath which the sculptured pupse rested without the additional protection of 

 an earthen cocoon. I had over and over again observed these full-fed beetle-larvae 

 quitting the galls of Nematus ValHsnierii, Hart., and simply falling to the ground. 

 They are very plentiful on some old trees of Salix fragilis in the gai'den here, and 

 having often watched their proceedings, I concluded tliat a " culbute " was their 

 only way of reaching their end. In this I find I am mistaken ; as, a little before 

 eight o'clock in the morning of the 25th October last, I found the amber-coloured 

 grub of this weevil suspended by an almost invisible silken thread, seven feet in length, 

 and attached to the leaf of an overhanging bough. A slight breeze kept the curved 

 larva swinging to and fro, which motion first directed my attention towards it. It 

 was then about three feet from the ground, but, while I kept watching, it descended 

 that distance, and then cut the cable. It had, however, given me time enough to trace 

 the thread with my lens from its buccal organs up to the leaf whence it had started, 

 and which, as I expected, showed its freshly gnawed'^ exit-hole in the Saw-fly gall. 

 I was most unwilling to credit this minute curculionidous larva with the extra- 

 ordinary feat of spinning which it accomplished before my eyes. Suspicious of a 

 possible error on my part, I took the trouble, as already stated, of tracing the whole 

 length of the thread ; subsequently, I measured the distance, and found it to agree 

 with my original estimate. The branch in question stands far out by itself and 

 overhangs a lawn ; so there was no possibility of a nearer point of attacliment for 

 the silken cord. The larva itself I have since carefully compared witli my descrip- 

 tion drawn iip in 1869, with which it tallies in every respect. — Albeet Muller, 

 South Norwood, S.E. : November \st, 1872. 



Notes on captures of Semiptera and Coleoptera at Deal. — 



Hemipteea. — -From the 4'th to 14th September, I devoted many hours to a 

 diligent search of the sand-hills between Sandown Castle and the "Chequers," for 

 insects of this Order ; and, passing over an enumeration of tlic commoner species, the 

 following seem worthy of record. Except where otherwise noted, all were found at 

 the tops of the hillocks, among the roots of the grasses growing thickly under and 

 among the procumbent branches of the oldest dwarf sallows or under bushes of 

 Hippophae rhamnoides, these positions being the best that could be obtained for 

 shelter during hibernation. 



Strachia oleracea, Lin. (4), and Corizus parumpunctatus, Schill. (3), by sweep- 

 ing the flowers of Plmpinella saxifraga, abundant in the hollows. 



Eurygaster nigra, Fab. A single specimen of the pale variety (var. a, communis 

 [of E. hottentotta'], Fieb.), exactly the coloxir of the sand. 



Pseudophlaeus niibilus, Fall. A single specimen. 



Ceraleptus squalidus, Costa. I got a fine series of this species, hitherto very 

 rare, only two British examples being known, and both from this locality. It is a very 

 sluggish creature, for, while one individual was turning himself over, a Verlusia 

 rhombea turned out at the same time, and ran up my arm to the shoulder. Coreus 

 dijjicilis, VoUenh. (Tijdschr. v. Entomol. 2 ser., iv, 56, pi. 1, fig. 5, 1869), must be 

 quoted as a synonym of this species. 



