THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 125 



in September. At fig. 7 I picture a female at rest with out- 

 stretched antennae, wliich, however, when quite at rest, they 

 place close to their body. At fig. 8 we see a flying male. 

 There is not a suflScicnt difference between their antennae to 

 distinguish in this case the male from the female (though this 

 is in many sorts the best sign of sex), but the tail-end of the 

 former runs out somewhat broader than that of the latter; 

 the male has also a slenderer body than the female. Besides 

 there is a remarkable difference between these moths in the 

 liveliness of their colours, some being very strongly, others 

 only paler, coloured ; the marking of them is always the 

 same, so that one does not observe the least trifles ; they are 

 not larger. I have chosen the largest for my drawing. 



"Lastly. — 1 must append here a few remarks. (1) It does 

 not follow that you can always see the holes in the burr-stalk 

 through which the insect has entered, as the grub may have 

 entered quite young, and consequently through an almost 

 imperceptible hole. (2) In one stalk you sometimes find 

 more than one grub, not side by side, but above one another. 

 (3) For the safety of the pupae, whenever you wish to allow 

 them to remain in the burr-slalk till they come out winged, 

 you must split the stalks at one end and stick a little wedge 

 in, otherwise through the shrinking of the stalk the channel, 

 or lane, in which the pupa lies, will be narrowed, and conse- 

 quently press it to death; you may also take them out of the 

 stalks, and put them on cotton or other soft stuff." 



Edwin Birchall. 



Kirkstall Grove, May 15, 1874. 



Tlie Goat-moih Larva Underground. — The larva sent by 

 P. E. is that of the goat-moth (Xyleutes Cossus) ; the smell 

 has often been noticed as resembling that of a he-goat, and 

 doubtless the name has reference to this peculiarity. This 

 caterpillar has on several previous occasions been found in 

 the ground, having buried itself to undergo its transformation. 

 It is occasionally turned up by the gardener in his spring 

 diggings, and is generally in a slight cocoon composed of 

 earth and a small portion of silk. A life-history of the species, 

 extending to sixteen pages, will be found at page 333 of the 

 fourth volume of the ' Entomologist.' — Edward Newman. 



