NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 139 



well to publish Mr. W. Buckler's own correction of this error. The following 

 is an extract from a letter received by myself from Mr. Buckler, dated, 

 Einsworth, June 7th, 1880 : — " I am indeed greatly rejoiced to see the 

 larvae of H. actcBon in all stages of growth that you have so kindly sent me, 

 and pailicukrly at the blossom of the grass they feed on, for I can now be 

 sure it is that of Brachypodhun pimiatum, and not sylvaticuin.'' I may add 

 that B. sylvaticum, so far as I am aware, does not grow in the localities 

 frequtnited by H. actaon, while B. pinnatum is abundant. — (Uev.) C. R. 

 Digby; Studland Rectory, Warehani, April 1st, 1889. 



Aglia tau. — The preconviction I entertained with respect to Aglia tau 

 was that it haunted the shade of forest glades and clearings, where the 

 caterpillar bred recluse on the tall and lofty trees; Mr. Kirby specifies the 

 beech, lime, and oak. I encountered it, however, under different circum- 

 stances on a shrubby slope above the village of Olewig, near Treves, where 

 I mistook it for a large unknown Argynnis butterfly ; and later on I found 

 the eggs laid on a low bush, resembling in aspect our English sloe, but with 

 pointed leaves and otherwise different; a common shrub on the bleaker 

 exposures of the heights that command the valley of the Moselle. — A. H. 

 SwiNTON ; Tudor Villas, Bedford. 



Food of Nyssia zonaria. — Noticing Mr. Milton's remarks (Eutom. 

 113) that he had fed the larvae of Nyssia zonaria on yarrow, I may mention 

 that I have on two or three occasions (some few years since) reared the larvae 

 on yarrow. I think Mr. Arkle must have overlooked Stainton, Newman, 

 and Merrin's Calendar, or he would have seen they all give yarrow as the 

 food-plant. — Jno. Harrison; 7, Gawber Road, Barnsley, April 8, 1889. 



Food of Epunda lichenea. — On the 8th instant I found a dozea 

 larvae of Epunda lichenea feeding on Linaria cymbalaria in a greenhouse, 

 where the ivy-leaved snap-dragon was permitted to grow and trail on the 

 shelves. My attention was tirst drawn to it by seeing so many of the long 

 slender leaf-stems standing erect, minus the leaves, which had been 

 consumed by the larvae. I think this is worth noting, as it is a plant not 

 hitherto recorded as its food-plant. — G. C. Bignell; 7, Clarence Place, 

 Stoni'house, Devon, April 11, 1889. 



OxYPTiLus TEUCRii. — In his remarks on the Pterophori, Mr. South 

 still seems to overlook that the only way in which we could at present 

 accept Haworth's name, heterodactylus, for this species, is by deliberately 

 ignoring the law of priority, and accepting Haworth as the originator of the 

 name, passing over De Villers altogether. At present we have no evidence 

 at all of the identity of Haworth's heterodactylus with De Villers' heterodac- 

 tylus, or that Haworth ever saw a single specimen, or even drawing, of the 

 latter. Neither do we know at all what species De Villers' heterodactylus 

 was. His description, " Alis patentibus fissis, nigris, maculis albis," is so 

 vague, that it might equally well apply to several of the genus. The fact 

 that Mr. Stephens, in his second and larger work in 18:34, omitted the 

 reference to Haworth, which he had inserted in his previous work in 18--J9, 

 would rather lead us to suppose that he was in some doubt as to the 

 synonymy. Mr. South 's argument, elsewhere, that we should adopt the 

 name from Haworth "s specimen, because it may be identical with De Villers' 

 species, is wholly unscientific. The burden of proof clearly lies on those 



