182 NOVEMBER. 



than transcribe for the benefit of my readers Mr. Stain- 

 ton's remarks upon this subject (in the " Zoologist," 

 page 4180) : he says, " Many Entomologists labour 

 under the impression that there is nothing to be done 

 during the winter months, at least among Micro-Lepi- 

 doptera. l It may be all very well,' say they, ' for a 

 beetle hunter to go poking into old stumps, and picking 

 up moss, but that sort of game don't suit us.' So, as 

 nothing is to be got by poking into old stumps, nobody 

 thinks of looking, and so nothing is got ; but is the 

 assertion true ? It has several times been recorded that 

 Dasycera sulphur ella feeds as larva under the bark of 

 decaying trees : has it alone that habit ? Where did 

 {the late) Mr. Wing find the larvae of CEcophora 

 unitella last spring? In some old pea-stichs, which 

 he had used in the formation of an arbour. Where 

 did Herr Richter find the larva of CEcophora simi- 

 lella ? Under the bark of decayed fir-stumps, which 

 were brought to his house as fire- wood. Now, in order 

 to discover the larvae of the species of a genus, you 

 must first discover that of one species, next assume that 

 the habits of the others are similar, and look for them 

 in the then most likely places. The larvae of CEcophora 

 augustella, Woodiella, formosella, lunaris, Lambdella, 

 subaquilea, Panzerellaj tinctella, jlavifrontella* and 

 fuscescens are unknown, probably they are all rotten- 

 n-ood feeders. Professor Zeller found CE. formosella 

 rather freely last summer (that of 1853) in a wood- 

 yard, along with CEcophora unitella. This strengthens 

 previous suspicions. Most of the other species appear, 



* The larva of CE. flavifrontella has been discovered since this 

 was written. See ante, p. 98. 



