LEPIDOPTERA IN 1896. 69 



31st to June 11th ; pupae of second brood scarce; took two, Aug. 14th ; 

 only one moth emerged, Aug. 30th. May 23th, Amphidasys hetuJatia var. 

 douhledaijaria, from last year's pupae. On May 24th ( lost all my young 

 larvte of Amphidasys strataria (prodroinaria) and Tephrosia biundularia, 

 through not being able to attend to them. On June 8th some Delamere 

 Cabera pusaria began emerging ; I did not get the " black " form among 

 the specimens. I found larvae of Hyhernia marginaria (progemmaria) to be 

 combative and cannibal ; they diminished in numbers daily. Larvae 

 of Nyssia zonaria, hatched May 7th and all pupated by July 15th, I found 

 very combative, but not cannibal. In June Smerinthus ocellatus, S.populi, 

 and A. lucernea appeared from last year's pupce ; also Notodonta dromedarius. 

 July, Lophopteryx cameliaa (light and dark forms). Larvae of last two 

 species from Delamere Forest. July 23rd, larvae of Eupithecla pulcheUata 

 common in foxglove flowers, Delamere Forest. Anarta myrtilU plentiful ; 

 picked two dozen in half an hour or so off the tops of the heather ; their 

 chequered pattern of green and yellow made them easily seen. Cater- 

 pillars of a sawfly also, on the heather tops, in plenty; head reddish, face 

 black, rest of caterpillar (above and underneath) putty colour ; a row of 

 thirteen large, very black spots (one on each segment) along each side just 

 above the pale, indistinct brown spiracles ; below spiracles an almost con- 

 tinuous line of similar spots ; there is also a mediodorsal indistinct row of 

 elongated black marks. Legs putty colour, spotted with the same intense 

 black. The larva I wrote this description from I watched change its skin, 

 through a lens, on July 24th. I was particularly struck with the delicate 

 sense of touch exhibited by the six legs, which terminate in what looks like 

 a miniature hand with one finger. This finger is most sensitive, and is 

 composed of contractile tissue. Thus it can be extended, or contracted, or 

 bent in on the palm for grasping purposes, and ends in a claw. The two 

 front legs seem especially sensitive, a highly nervous movement or 

 twitching being always visible. This caterpillar spun a close brown cocoon 

 next day, very like that of Eriogaster lanestris, but a little smaller. 

 Ichneumons on the wing unusually common. On Aug. 22nd I took a 

 larva of *S'. ocellatus near Chester, oiT sallow ; there had evidently been a 

 considerable number at the place. There were several broods also of P. 

 bucephala. The S. ocellatus pupated on Aug. 29th. Several larvae of 

 Acherontia atropos were found in the district about this time. From 

 Oct 3rd to 17th Bombyx rubi caterpillars were abundant on a certain 

 Delamere heath ; I picked up a hundred full-grown ones, reserved fifty for 

 myself, and divided the rest between a couple of friends. The object was to try 

 the chip-box system for hybernation, each caterpillar being put into a sepa- 

 rate box when full-fed at the end of October, and the boxes kept on a warm 

 mantelpiece. The experiment, in each case, was a total failure. Three 

 of my larvte died in spinning up, and the rest before any attempt at 

 spinning, by the end of December ; two were ichneumoned, the parasite 

 larvae behaving as in the second case of A. caia. Ichneumon black, head 

 also, antennae long and robust. Legs brown-black. Ovipositor hardly 

 visible through a lens, and without sheath. Upper wing with three 

 contiguous areolets; first black, and rests on centre of costa; second and 

 third stretch obliquely in direction of wing-base as far as the wing-centre ; 

 a nervure then proceeds from the third to the base of the wing. Four 

 wings transparent, except costal bkck spot or first areolet. Many of the 

 parasites emerged from thtir cocoons in December ; the rest seem to be 

 lying over the winter. The chip'bo.x experiment included a few caterpillais 



