1896.J 59 



and P. smaragdnria, none the worse for the submergence, is gathered 

 into our collecting boxes. A few hours later there remains nothing 

 to indicate that the ground had been flooded, nor would any one have 

 found it easy to believe that the spot upon which we were then re- 

 clining had, a few hours previously, been at the bottom of the sea. 



That P. smaragdaria is subject to periodical immersions is a fact 

 in the economy of the species of more than ordinary interest, and will 

 be of use for theorists to work upon ; but we do not stop to theorize 

 nor to collect any longer. Well satisfied with our day's woi'k, wo 

 gather together some plants of Artemisia, and leave this desolate spot. 

 Soon we arrive by train at Tilbury and cross the river to Gravesend, 

 where we find all is life and activity — a strong contrast to poor Essex. 

 Our friend having thanked us for introducing him to scenes so new, 

 now seeks the heart of Kent, enjoying for a finish np a night's walk 

 of six miles through lovely lanes and woods. The utter desolation 

 of that part of the Essex coast, with its population of careworn 

 farmers, the weird night passage across the river, and the final blaze 

 of gas light, soldiers, market folk, and the busy rattle of traps, have 

 been a fascinating change to him. So we part, and whilst on our 

 way to the metropolis with a cargo of P. smaragdaria and Artemisia, 

 we resolve to make known, for the benefit of others, that which has 

 come to our knowledge concerning the habits of this species. 



31, Belmont Hill, Lee, S.E. : 

 January, 1895. 



[The original account of the larva of Phorodesma smaragdaria, Esper, by G. 

 Koch, appeared in the " Stettiner entoinologisclie Zeitung," xii, p. 265 (1851), and 

 a translation thereof by me was read at the meeting of the Entomological Society 

 of London on March Ist, 1852 (Trans. Ent. Soc. Proceed., vol. ii, n. s., p. 5, 1852). 

 The discovery of the larva is attributed to Herr Verwalter Muhlig, who found it in 

 the town woods of Frankfort on the Main, where the perfect insect is not uncommon, 

 the food-plant being stated to be the milfoil {Achillea millefolium), and, in confine- 

 ment, also I'oterium sanguisorha ; light places in the woods, on the level ground 

 and dry ditches, where the food-plants grow plentifully, being the favourite localities. 

 The difficulty of seeing the larva-case, as stated by Mr. Auld, was well, though not 

 idiomatically, expressed to me personally by the late Dr. Becker, of Wiesbaden, in 

 1818, when he was a refugee in this country. lie said, "I siiall have an adult larva 

 in its case before you, I shall tell you it is there, and yet you shall not distinguish 

 the case from its similar surroundings." The. discovery of the larva on Artemisia 

 maritima is of much interest. Mr. Ilaggar and I walking together on the seawall 

 at St. Osyth in July, 1815, kicked up five specimens of the imago from among 

 Achillea milhj'olium and grass. The discovery of the species in this country was 

 by the taking of one example at Southchurch, Essex, as recorded by Curtis.— 



J. W. Douglas]. 



E 2 



