22 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



as the species was quite over the month before. The speci- 

 men was in fine condition, but pale in colour, and very small. 

 — J. Sang; 33, Oxford Street, Darlington. 



Abnormal appearance of Cucullia verbascl — I was sur- 

 prised to find a specimen of Cucullia verbascl, just hatched out, 

 in my breeding-cage to-day. It is one of ten larvae that I found 

 in Hampshire, in July, 1883, all of which went into the pupa 

 state the same autumn, but only three imagos have at present 

 appeared. The two previous specimens hatched in June last. — 

 Percy Kendall; 20, Ladbroke Square, November 21, 1884. 



CiDARiA elavicinctata DOUBLE -BROODED. — Is Cidaria flavi- 

 cinctata {riificinctata) double-brooded generally ? I procured 

 some ova rather late this season in Rannoch. One larva rather 

 quickly outgrew the others, but was by no means full-sized when 

 it turned into a very small chrysalis. A few days ago it came 

 out as a perfect and well-marked moth, rather small, but not 

 much smaller than some I have taken in Rannoch ; the others 

 are all very tiny, but I hope to get them through the winter. — 

 (Mrs.) Elizabeth Cross ; Appleby Vicarage, Brigg, Nov. 27, 1884. 



The Urticating Properties of the Hairs of Porthesia 

 chrysorrhcea. — At least I suppose we must say it is the "hairs," 

 as stated (Entom. xvii. 275), that cause with some persons such 

 peculiar and painful irritation, while others are slightly affected, 

 and others, again, not affected at all. During some years, a long 

 strip of hedge on the old Dover road, between Gravesend and the 

 village of Chalk, was the residence of a colony of Porthesia 

 chrysorrhcea, hundreds of their nests, or even thousands, being 

 conspicuous on the hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel. By-passers 

 of both sexes were often, in the summer months, sufferers from 

 the hairs floated by the wind off the larvae or their cocoons, and 

 it was rather amusing to hear the various conjectures which were 

 made as to the cause of the irritation, never attributing it to the 

 insects on the hedges. I had, in a local journal, more than once 

 advised the removal of these winter nests, in the interest of the 

 adjacent orchards, seeing that this species is reported to be 

 injurious to fruit trees. The farmers and gardeners neglected 

 this, but the extremely wet winters of 1882 and 1883 appear to 

 have extinguished the species for the present. Returning, how- 

 ever, to the matter of the urtication, I might say that, speaking 



