268 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Ennomos autumnaria (alniaria).— This insect comes to the lamp 

 outside my front door nearly every year. I took two specimens, male and 

 female, last month (September), and I have a batch of eggs. Three years 

 ago I had a similar batch, and the larvae fed up very well, but instead of 

 changing to pupae they got diseased, and all died except one. I should be 

 annoyed were this to happen again, so if any of my old correspondents 

 would like to try their hands at rearing the insect, I shall be pleased to 

 divide the eggs between us. — J. P. Barrett; 3, St. John's Villas, St. Peter's 

 Footpath, Margate. 



Hadena pisi : extraordinary abundance in the larval state. — 

 Last month a friend drew my attention to the fact that the larvae of H. pisi 

 were to be obtained in great numbers at Shepherd's Bush. The locality 

 turned out to be a large brickfield which had been in disuse for many years. 

 Lyiug fallow for so long, the place has become a veritable wilderness. I 

 noticed that the wormwood flourishes there exceedingly, and from the hollows 

 the massed plants much resembled a miniature fir-forest, so dark and dense 

 did they seem against the clear blue sky. In this taugled waste of thistles, 

 nettles, yarrow, &c, the melilot asserted itself strongly — sometimes attained 

 a height of nearly seven feet. The larvae of H. pisis\m\>\y swarmed upon 

 it, preferring it to any other pabulum, and large areas were completely 

 devastated by these larvae. To see them resting on the bared and bleached 

 stems of the melilot, fully exposed to the fierce rays of the sun, was a most 

 unusual sight on one of the very hottest days of the year. Within a stride 

 a score could be obtained, and all forms of the larvae known to me were 

 represented. It is no exaggeration to say that ten thousand could have 

 been taken with little difficulty, and the gregarious cocoons of its parasite 

 were striking objects in the brilliant sunlight, strongly resembling, super- 

 ficially, nests of spiders' eggs. Although in nearly all parts of the field 

 there was very strong evidence of larval depredations, the only other larvae 

 I observed were a few examples of Hadena oleracea. I have omitted to 

 mention that my friend saw a boy collecting H. pisi at tenpence per 

 thousand, and a man was also observed with a pail which he was using for 

 the same purpose. I have never seen before such strong evidence of the 

 voracity of lepidopterous larvae ; it therefore was a new experience, and a 

 sight not easily to be forgotten by an entomologist. — Alfred T. Mitchell; 

 5, Clayton Terrace, Gunnersbury, W., Oct. 21st, 1898. 



Boarmia rhomboidaria double-brooded. — A small female of the 

 above species was taken in Richmond Park at the end of last month. By 

 its size and condition it is probably an example of a second brood. — Alfred 

 T. Mitchell ; 5, Clayton Terrace, Gunnersbury, W., Oct. 21st. 



Plusia moneta in Surrey. — I may mention that early in the summer 

 larva of P. moneta were again found in the same garden from which the 

 species has been recorded in previous years. — (Rev.) J. E. Tarbat ; Holm- 

 lea, Weybridge. 



Errata. — P. 235, line 11, for "dominal" read "dominant"; p. 244, 

 line 4, for " Stilbia anomala" read " Caradrina ambigua"; p. 257, for 

 " Notes on Lepidoptera m 1897 " read "in 1898"; p. 258, line G from top, 

 for " E . frequentella (common)" read " Coleophora lutipennella." 



