THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 113 



Improved Cyanide Bottle. — Wrap a piece of cyanide, 

 about half an inch square, in blotting-paper, folded two or 

 three times; tie it round with cotton, and fasten it at the 

 bottom of a wide-mouthed bottle with sealing-wax ; then 

 warm the bottle gradually over a lamp till the wax melts, and 

 then cork it up. This has answered with me much better 

 than the usual way of covering up with plaster; it also has 

 the advantage of taking only a few minutes to make. — John 

 B. Bridgman; St. Giles North, Norwich, March 29, 1875. 



Correction of an Error. — I regret to observe than an error 

 has crept into my communication, published in the last 

 number of the ' Entomologist.' At page 82, line 6, 

 " Nephopteryx angustella" is printed for " CEcophora 

 augustella." Your kindly noticing this will, I trust, prevent 

 entomologists searching the trunks of horsechestnut-trees, at 

 Hampstead, for Nephopteryx angustella, which only occurs 

 among spindle. — Win. Machin ; 2'ii,, Aryyle Road, Carlton 

 Square, E., April 20, 1875. 



Erratum. — In Mr. Talbot's note (Entom. viii. 89), for 

 "Gelechia cinerella" read "Grapholitha cinerana." 



Answers to Correspondents. 



N. R. M. — LarvcB Feeding on Turnip-seed. — I should be 

 glad to learn something of the enclosed larvae, which I found 

 in February feeding on turnip-seed. I have occasionally 

 found them before, but not in such great numbers. In about 

 one pint of seed there must have been more than two 

 hundred larvee. I should also like to know if they are 

 destructive to wood. 



[The larvai are evidently those of aMicro-Lepidopteron, — 

 white, soft, and enclosed in loose cocoons, in which they are 

 feeding. The seeds are mostly attached to the outside of 

 these cocoons, but some are also in the inside, which is 

 somewhat more finished, and is very evidently a dwelling- 

 place into which the larva can retreat at pleasure after its 

 foraging excursions. The cocoons vary greatly in size, some 

 being scarcely half an inch in length, others measuring two 

 inches in length : they are very flimsy structures, and collapse 

 directly the larva is removed. Owing to the outside being 



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