430 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
symptoms of having been forced or broken open in others, 
there certainly was no indication of a rodent having been at 
work in a single instance. It is true that, at the time this 
searching investigation was made, I had neither read nor 
heard of the squirrel being supposed to feed on these galls ; 
my object being to discover whether they formed any portion 
of the food of the field-mice, which abound in that locality; 
but not the slightest trace of the teeth of a mouse could 
be found. 
Larve of a Hupithectaa—I send you by this post some 
caterpillars I found on the seeds of umbelliferous plants, and 
shall be glad to know their name.— William Talbot ; Tarbert, 
October 3, 1871. 
The larve are those of Eupithecia absynthiata, so far as I 
can make out; but they will not come out until next year. 
Larva of Odontopera bidentata.—1 send you a larva, 
which my nephew found attached by its anal claspers to a 
branch of one of the forms of Rubus cesius, I took it to be 
one of the Boarmide; but, upon referring to your ‘ Moths,’ I 
could not find any description exactly agreeing with it. You 
will observe that it is a capital imitation of a piece of stick, 
about the size of a tobacco-pipe, and two inches in length; 
it also has the appearance of being covered with lichens, 
resembling some growths of Parmelia pulverulenta, intermixed 
with Pertusaria, and variegated with darker markings.— 
Henry Reeks ; East Woodhay, Newbury, October 3, 1871. 
The larva is that of Odontopera bidentata: this beautiful 
variety, so totally different from the ordinary form, is said to be 
generally found on lichens. It is singular that the larve of 
this species should feed all the summer the moths appear, and 
I have some of them feeding up to the present time on 
clematis and lilac: most of them are now gone into the 
earth.— H. Doubleday ; in a letter to E. Newman. 
EDWARD NEWMAN. 
Life-history of Gymnancycla canella.—The egg is laid in 
July and August, on the flower-bud of Salsola Kali; and the 
young larva emerges in confinement in about eight days. 
Whilst young it enters the unripe seed-vessels, and feeds upon 
