76 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



wooded, romantic valleys, watered by little tumbling brooks. I descended 

 into all these valleys, dells, and hollows, and found some of them surpass- 

 ingly beautiful, — singularly contrasting, in my recollection, with the barren 

 and rocky coast, that so little prepares one for scenes of soft and wooded 

 fertility. In some spots it is indeed difficult to believe that one is on a 

 small islet, two or three leagues in circumference. One valley, the valley 

 of Dixcart, is every way a charming spot ; it is a winding valley about a 

 quarter of a mile broad, flanked by hills that appear lofty, owing to its great 

 depth. Wood in infinite variety fills the lower part of the valley, while the 

 green sides of the hills, dotted with cattle, entirely shut out the view of the 

 sea." As far as my experience goes, butterflies are more numerous 

 in Sark than in Guernsey. I have taken twenty-six species there, viz. : — ■ 

 Pieris brassicce, P. rapa, P. napi, Colias hyale, C. edusa, Gonopteryx 

 rhamni, Argynnis latona, A. aylaia, Melitcca cinxia, Vanessa p)olychloros, V. 

 urticcB, V. 10, V. atalanta, V. cardui, Pararge egeria, P. niegcBva, Satyrus 

 semele, Epinephele ianira, E tithonus, Ccenonynipha pamphilus, Thecla rubi, 

 Polyomiiiatiis phlccas, Lycana astrarche, L. icarus, L. argiolus, L. agon. 

 Of these, A. aglaia and C. pamphilus have never been taken in Guernsey, 

 and A. latona, V. io, C. hyale and G. rhamni are much commoner in 

 Sark than Guernsey. Amongst the less common moths the following 

 have been taken in Sark : — Acherontia atropos, Sphinx convolmdi, Gnophria 

 rubricollis, Callimorpha hera, Bovihyx trifolii, Saturnia carjnni, Bryojihila 

 glandifera, Agrotis hmigera, Dianthmcia nana, Trigonophora flai)imea, 

 Heliothis armigera, and Catocala nupta. C. hera is very abundant in some 

 seasons, and on one occasion I took as many as eighteen in one afternoon, 

 many being of the yellow variety, lutescens. Is Mr. Blaber quite sure that 

 the butterflies he noticed in Guernsey were Argynnis paphia? I have 

 collected and observed our Guernsey butterflies for the last twenty years, 

 and have never met with a single specimen. — W. A. Luff ; 12, Mansell 

 Street, Guernsey, December, 1888. 



ExTBACTiON OF MoTHS FROM Pup^. — As a boy I always used to help 

 my insects to emerge (Entom. 50 et ante), on the same principle that 

 I pulled up cuttings to see if they were striking. The victims were 

 generally Arctia caia, Bombyx quercus, and Odonestis potatoria. The 

 latter sometimes developed, the two former never. The wonder was that 

 any did, as they were extracted from the cocoons about a week after 

 spinning up, and then gently pinched every morning like peaches, till 

 eventually some happy morning the thoracic plates cracked. Sometimes 

 they were peeled at once ; sometimes a fragment was taken off at intervals 

 during the day. I was led to repeat the boyish experiment in wiser years 

 in^ the case of Papilio machaon, one of which died when fully developed, 

 without making an effort to emerge. This led me to crack the next one, 

 when the markings showed fully through the wing-cases, and to take the 

 insect out. It did not seem happy; and I discovered that the wings, 

 besides the outer case, were also enclosed in a very delicate sheath. The 

 upper side of this had been left in the case, but under the wings some frag- 

 ments were left adhering which seemed to prevent growth. These I 

 removed and then the insect developed. But one or two subsequent 

 operations have failed.— G. M. A. Hewett ; The College, Winchester. 



SiREx GiGAS IN YORKSHIRE. — This insoct was last July and August 

 fairly common near York, several fine specimens coming into my possession. 



