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THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



and in this way the use of cotton wool, tow, or other kinds of packing 

 material is dispensed with. The inventor has most kindly sent me 

 one of these boxes, in which was suspended a seidlitz-powder box 

 containing two butterflies. Tbe package was despatched from Folke- 

 stone by parcel post, and the insects arrived in perfect order. — 

 RicHAED South. 



CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 



AsKMUM STRIATUM, L., IN HAMPSHIRE. — I was Surprised to find a 

 fresh specimen of this insect on turning over a chip of a recentl3'-felled 

 Scotch fir, in Lord's Wood, near here, on May 10th. T do not think it has 

 been recorded in England before, and not, so far as I am aware, excepting 

 from Scotland, in the British Isles ; but from its distribution in Europe 

 (Gyllenhal giving it for Switzerland; Redteubacher, Austria; Mulsant, 

 France), it seems remarkable it should not occur more commonly. — 

 H. S. Gorham; Shirley Warren, May 16th. 



Spring Lepidoptkra at Tonbridge. — Pie) is brassiccB (?) seen in the 

 distance, March 27th. P. rapcB, a male caught on the same day. 

 Gonopteryx rhamni, males seen on March S5th, April 8th and 11th, all 

 apparently fresh; why does this butterfly keep its freshness through the 

 winter so much better than others? Vanessa urlica, one seen on the wing 

 by V. H. Jackson on January 15th; on March 14th I saw another, and 

 several appeared on Easter Day. Pararge megcera : of this I found a larva 

 on March llth; it pupated on April 3rd. Vasychira pndihunda was bred 

 by J. E. Hailstone on January 31st. Brephos parthoiias, not noticed till 

 March 31st. Phigalia pedaria, one found on palings, February 24th. 

 Hybernia leucophcBria and H. marginaria were common on fences through- 

 out February. Anisopteryx (Escularia, March 2nd. Anticlea badiata, 

 April Ist. On April llth I heard several cuckoos ; on the 12th I saw a 

 swallow and Lycana argiolus. On April 13th I went to Salcombe, South 

 Devon ; a female Pararge megtBra was taken on the 14th, and several 

 P. egeria appeared on the 16th. On the 17th I came across another 

 collector who had just taken Pieris napi, Euchloe cardamines, and Argynnis 

 euphrosyne. Polyommatus pihlceas was seen on April 19th, and Thecla rubi 

 taken on April 25th. A female Dicranura vinula emerged on April 28th, 

 and a larva of Aretia vilUca pupated on April 29th. Vanessa cardui was 

 seen on Bolt Tail on April 30th. A larva of Aretia caia was found at 

 Salcombe on gorse, where it had presumably been feeding on the young 

 shoots ; a larva of Bombyx quercus was found crawling over the same 

 plant. Larvae of B. irifolii were extremely common at Starehole Bottom 

 and on Bolt Head ; they seem very general feeders ; there was no clover 

 of any sort in the locality where they occurred, but several were found 

 eating different grasses ; one was seen to nibble bracken, and others were 

 found, though not actually feeding, on heather, bramble, and violet ; one 

 was found eating gorse blossom, which had apparently been its food for 

 some time, as it ejected several pieces of yellowish-brown frass. These 

 larvee are very shy, and on one's approach, which they perceive very easily, 

 they curl up, often writhing to and fro, remaining thus for a con- 

 siderable time ; several were found sitting on rocks, but by far the greater 

 number were stretched out on dead bracken. In confinement tliey eat 

 various kinds of clover. — D. P. Turner ; 14, Havelock Road, Tonbridge. 



