﻿64 THK KNTOMOLOGIST. 



usual food of the last named is, of course, sallow and willow. The 

 only obscure points in the life-history of ocellaris concern the later 

 larval stages, and it is to be hoped, as elm is a very easy tree to work — 

 poplar is, of course, very difficult — that they maybe cleared upintlie 

 coming season. On the Continent the larva begins its life on poplar 

 until brought down by storm or rain, when it becomes a general 

 feeder. Artemisia campcstris is the only plant I have seen mentioned 

 by name. Freitschke gives a detailed account of larvae collected 

 thereon in the neighbourhood of Darmstadt, and it would be worth 

 while for Suffolk and Norfolk collectors to examine their local worm- 

 wood in late May, if found growing anywhere near poplars of the 

 black or Italian variety. Knowledge of the wild larvge in Britain is 

 at present confined to seven specimens taken in some twelve visits 

 which I made to the liaunt of the species in April and May, 1913. 

 All were taken in association with poplar. No larvae have been found 

 on any of the plants growing near the tree, though diligent search 

 has been made by several collectors over a period of several years. 

 No one, I think, has succeeded in getting bred larvae to accept any 

 kind of " low-plant." This suggests a change in larval habit, and 

 may account for the usual scarcity of the insect in the localities 

 where it appears to be firmly established. This is, perhaps, a good 

 opportunity to ask if any of your readers have at any time found 

 gilvago in any shape associated with poplar ? In Seitz's ' Macro- 

 Lepidoptera,' vol. iii., Warren, dealing with the Continental Cosmia 

 (Mellinia) erythrago, an insect long regarded as a variety of gilvago, 

 remarks that all the Continental poplar feeding gilvago will probably 

 prove to be erythrago (European authors are quite definite on the 

 point that gilvago does feed on poplar), and supports his case by 

 stating that in Britain gilvago feeds solely on elm. I do not know 

 what authority there is for so positive an assertion ; it is probably 

 based on the knowledge that as gilvago larvae can be beaten out of 

 elm, nobody has troubled to look any further. In tlie Thames Valley 

 certainly, and I have no doubt elsewhere, gilvago does feed on poplar. 

 I also want first-hand information as to how the wild gilvago female 

 lays her eggs. I do not want to be told on elm (or poplar), but when 

 and how ? — H. Worsley-Wood ; 31, Agate Koad, Hammersmith, W., 

 February 5th, 1915. 



An Entomological Trip to St. Anne's-on-the-Sea. — I spent 

 the first week in August at St. Anne's-on-the-Sea wnth my friend, 

 G. Brooks, and as I learned from a local collector, Mr. A. Murray, 

 that few but northern collectors visit this spot, the following notes 

 may be of interest. The number of lepidopterous species at St. 

 Anne's is not great, owing to the restricted flora, there being little 

 besides the usual sandhill plants, hedges are almost unknown, and 

 the only trees are willows and an occasional poplar ; dwarf sallows, 

 however, are abundant. I need hardly say our first visit was to the 

 Luperina gueneei ground, the extremely confined area of which had 

 been previously indicated to us by a friend. It is interesting to note 

 that this once priceless moth had been all the while within a stone's 

 throw of the local collectors, its habitat being at the edge of one of 

 their favourite haunts. This is, however, easily understood when I 



