THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 151 



at all times was afForded them they got on better than before ; 

 and I therefore think it worth the attention of entomologists 

 who may desire to breed this insect during next season. — 

 George Pratt ; Lower Clapton, September 19, 1868. 



Boinhyx Yama-rnai. — I received this year about 600 eggs 

 of Yama-mai from Dr. Wallace : 262 hatched. Of these 

 1 only reared four to spinning, and one of these was soon 

 after found to be dead ; the others I sent to Dr. Wallace. 

 Some of mine were kept in-doors, some in a greenhouse, and 

 some out-of-doors on a living tree : these latter seemed to do 

 the best. Those in the greenhouse were fed on either small 

 oak trees in pots or branches of the same with their ends 

 stuck in damp sand. Most of mine died between the third 

 and fourth moults. 1 feel convinced that the hot weather 

 this year has had a great deal to do with my failure, for last 

 year I had fifty eggs, of which thirteen hatched ; nine of 

 them I reared, the other two having been killed by accident. 

 ■ — W. A. Shoolbred,jiin. ; Tettenhall Wood, Complon, Wol- 

 verhampton, September 18, 1868. 



Mortality among Larv(B of Bombyx Yama-mai. — Last 

 May, Mr. Brown, of Cambridge, kindly sent me a few larvae 

 of B. Yama-mai. I kept them out-of-doors on an oak in my 

 garden, a portion of them exposed to the full influence of the 

 sun's rays, and the remainder in a position of partial ex- 

 posure to the solar influence. They all died off, except six, 

 which attained a considerable size, and were nearly an inch 

 and a half in length. They suddenly appeared to leave off 

 feeding, and gradually, one after another, hung dead from 

 the twigs, the larva retaining its colour for some time, and 

 the skin being almost empty and remarkably elastic. The 

 leaves of the oak were not moistened, and very little dew or 

 rain fell. EJas any reader of the 'Entomologist' tried the 

 effect of occasional damping of the food, and, if so, with 

 what success.? Great caution is necessary, I find, in moving 

 the larvae from the twigs, as they can retain a very firm hold 

 of the stem (much more firm than Smerinthus ocellalus or 

 any of the hawk-moths), and the task is one to be recom- 

 mended as an exercise of patience. — H. McDowall ; Ket- 

 tering, August 3, 1868. 



Dicranura furcula. — I had a larva of this insect brought 

 to me last week on some willow that I had sent for, for 



