1885.] 255 



The aboTe few facts show how necessary it is to publish the history or any 

 information concerning new species as soon as possible, for had not Mr. Fletcher 

 written to me as he did, I should have been perfectly ignorant there was any such 

 species in existence ; and as many of my correspondents hare since seeing the name 

 on my list asked me what the species was, it is very probable the above com- 

 munication may be interesting and useful to many others who collect the Micros. — 

 Geo. Elisha, Shepherdess Walk, City Koad, N. : January, 1885. 



Larva in Nut CatMns, Sec. — I now add a description of the larva mentioned at 

 p. 203, which I have hitherto been unable to breed. Larva about half an inch 

 long, dusky pale greenish ; head and plate on second segment brownish-black ; when 

 the larva is younger the head and plate (which appear united) are unusually large, 

 and suggest the idea of a diving helmet. This disproportion is the more apparent 

 if the larva is at all stinted of food. In the earlier stages of growth the head is the 

 largest part of the larva, which tapers gradually from the third to the last segment ; 

 the posteriorly attenuated appearance being still further increased by the anal legs 

 projecting behind almost to a point. Anal plate small, and slightly darker. A dark 

 shining spot at top of anal legs ; front feet dark. When full grown the head is not 

 so disproportionately large, nor is it so dark, and the back of the larva is faintly 

 suffused with a smoky tinge. — A. Balding, Wisbech : January lUh, 1885. 



CJiaiiliodus inseciireUus and C. pontificellus. — The interesting discovery of the 

 larva of Chatdiodus insecurellus on Thesium divaricatum in Gascony, for the know- 

 ledge of which we are indebted to Mons. A. Constant, may not improbably help us 

 to find the larva of its congener, C. pontificellus. This conspicuous large Chauliodus 

 seems by no means uncommon in many parts of Germany and Switzerland ; I have 

 myself seen it in plenty near Eatisbon, but hitherto, strange as it may appear, the 

 larva of so common and striking a species has altogether escaped discovery. 



Yon Heinemann informs us " Schmetterlinge Deutschlands und der Schweiz, 

 Abth. ii, Band ii. Heft 2," p. 410, that " Frey suspects the larva to be on Thesium 

 montanum ; Eossler that it is on Sarothamnus." 



I must say that I think the occurrence of the larva of C. insemirellus on a 

 Thesium lends great weight to the probable correctness of the conjecture attributed 

 to Professor Frey, which, however, I do not find mentioned in Frey's " Lepidopteren 

 der Schweiz," though the author specially remarks of C. pontificellus, p. 401, "larva 

 to this hour unknown (in spite of numerous searches by myself and others)." 



1 hope, with the new lights we now have, the larva of C. pontificellus will not 

 remain much longer concealed. — H. T. Stainton, Mountsfield, Lewisham, S.E. ; 

 March 14t?i, 1885. 



Humble Bees successfully introduced into Neio Zealand. — The Canterbury 

 (N.Z.) correspondent of the Anglo-New Zealander and Australian Times, Mar. 13th, 

 states as follows :— " After several unsuccessful attempts to introduce the Humble 

 Bee, we have at last contrived to land a small number alive. This is owing to the 

 decreased length of the voyage since steamers commenced to run between England 

 and New Zealand. The Humble Bees were brought out in the " Tongariro," and 



