1867.] 153 



bed in the dusk of the evening. I shonld probably not have paid much attention 

 to it, taking it to be only P. forficalis, which was extremely plentiful that evening, 

 if I had not been struck with its peculiar flight, hovering backwards and forwards 

 more like the common house-fly than anything else I know." — H. T. Stainton, 

 Mountsfield, November, 1867. 



Micro'lepidoptera bred or captured at Darlington. — During the past season I 

 have bred the following : — Gelecliia rhomhella, Q. Sangiella, Nepticula splendidissima, 

 N. ulmivora, Lithocolletis insignitella, and ElacMsta tceniatella. I have also captured 

 Oelechia Sircomella, 0. intaminatella, and Coleophora melilotella. — John Sang, 

 Darlington, November 5th, 1867. 



Note on Lepidopterous inquilines. — In February last, my friend Mr. H. W. Kidd, 

 of Godalming, sent me a living specimen of Eeusimene fimbriana which he had bred, 

 from among a lot of small specimens of the marble gall of the oak (gall of Cynips 

 lignicola). I immediately went over and examined his galls, in hopes of finding 

 traces of either the larva or pupa, but failed to do so. I then collected great 

 numbers of similar galls, and also of the artichoke galls of the oak (galls of Cynips 

 fecundatrix) , in hopes of breeding more, but failed to obtain anything from them, 

 except a number of young larvae of one of the green tree-grasshoppers, probably 

 Meconema varia, the eggs of which must have been laid among the bracts of the 

 artichoke galls. Mr. Kidd was moro fortunate, for in May he bred Ca/rpocapsa 

 Juliana from artichoke galls, but, as this seems to be an acorn-feeder, it must have 

 merely chosen the gall to spin up in. 



In May I examined the oak-apples (galls of Teras terminalis), which were very 

 abundant this year, and found in many of them the larva of a Tortrix burrowing 

 under the skin, and feeding on the soft woolly substance inside. I also found 

 similar larvae hollowing out the inside of the currant galls of the oak catkin (galls 

 of Cynips Q. pedunculi). These I fed upon the galls, and bred from them Peedisca 

 corticana. 



Feeding on one oak-apple I found a larva of Thecla quercHs, and this arrived 

 at maturity upon the same food, but produced a very small imago. 



These cases of casual inquilines in galls seem interesting, and tend to prove 

 that the substance of the galls is of a similar nature to that of the leaves. — Chas. G. 

 Barrett, Haslemere, lUh November, 1867. 



A white-helted variety of Sesia culiciformis. — Whilst out collecting at Tilgate, 

 last June, T was fortunate enough to capture a (J example of S. culiciformis with 

 a white belt ; it was in copuld with a red-belted $ . The species has been rather 

 common this season. — E. G. Meek, la, Paradise Kow, Old Ford, E. 



*^* I am unaware if this variety have previously been detected. Dr. Staudinger 

 gives a var. " abdominis segmentum 4!, totmn ochraceum (flavum)." It is singularly 

 interesting that this curiosity should have been taken in copuld with the typical 

 form.— U. G. K. 



Notes on Sterrha sacraria. — I regret to say that I have not succeeded at all 

 satisfactorily in my attempt at rearing Sterrha sacraria ; and I am the more sorry, 



