170 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



abundant in June ; the second brood equally abundant on 

 Saturday, the 4th of September." Mr. Gregson and Mr. South 

 do not appear to be aware of the fact that this species is double- 

 brooded, or, if they are, their notices would lead one to suppose 

 they are not ; for Mr. South, in his description of the species 

 (Entom. XV. 31, 32), states: — "The larva feeds in Tussilago 

 farfara during April and May ; " and that " the pupa may be 

 found among the seed-down in May." He does not allude even 

 to the probability of a second brood, although the fact had been 

 previously recorded as above. Mr. Gregson writes, in the last 

 issue of the 'Entomologist' (Entom. xviii. 151), "We have a 

 coltsfoot-feeding larva in Wales, in June, which makes a gallery 

 through the fluff on the under sides of the leaves," and at once 

 suggests, " Can this be the larva of P. farfara ? " As June and 

 July are the months when the second brood of larvae of 

 P. gonodactyla are feeding, and as the second brood of this 

 species cannot then feed on the flower-heads, because there are 

 none, I think it would be much more reasonable to suppose that 

 the larvae he refers to are those of P. gonodactyla, rather than 

 those of P. farfara. It ought to be no trouble to breed the fluff- 

 mining larva, and put all doubt at rest, besides the satisfaction 

 of giving us something new, should Mr. Gregson's suggestion 

 turn out correct. I think, however, were he to breed these 

 summer larvae, he would most probably find that the imagines 

 were smaller, darker, and dingier — most certainly not redder — 

 than the early brood of P. gonodactyla. The colour of the second 

 brood of this species seems to be a more uniform gre}', nothing like 

 so sharply marked as in the first brood. This is especially the case 

 when the insects come out early, and get through their metamor- 

 phoses rapidly, when the more dingy appearance of the second 

 brood is not improved by being apparently bleached, which is 

 sometimes the case with the most perfect specimens. Mr. South's 

 remark as to the appearance of his bred series (Entom. xv. 32), 

 when compared with later-caught specimens, appears to bear out 

 the above suggestions, and to show that when the insects, through 

 artificial circumstances, are hurried through their changes, even 

 in the early brood, they will produce a bleached form. Mr. 

 South's description of the larva, from which he bred his 

 bleached-looking specimens, struck me as being a good description 

 of the larva of the early brood obtainable here. As I am away 



