NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 109 



beautiful moth, just drying its wings on the trunk of a thorn 

 tree.— G. M. A. Hewett ; The College, Winchester, Feb., 1887. 



Rearing varietties of Arctia caia. — The following notes 

 are upon the effects of indoor confinement on the life-histor}' of 

 Arctia caia. Having obtained a brood of ova, in July last, they 

 duly hatched, and some rapidly fed up and changed to pupa, 

 from which I bred about thirty imagines, most of them a trifle 

 darker than the ordinary type. I have still a few pupae left (five), 

 and have now, on Christmas Day, bred two extra dark varieties, 

 remarkable also for having very pale under wings, instead of the 

 usual crimson, and the black spots taking up most of the wings. 

 From the moths I bred in September and October I obtained a 

 goodly number of ova, that will keep no doubt until next spring ; 

 while I still have alive larvse of the first batch in two or three 

 stages of growth, and a brood of eighty odd larvae from moths 

 bred from the same batch, — so have larvae, pupae, and imagines 

 fi'om the summer brood of ova, and ova and larvae again from 

 them. I mean to try and restock some few localities near town 

 with some common things that have almost, and in some cases 

 become quite, extinct, through over-collecting by variety breeders 

 on the one hand, and also through the birds, which are becoming 

 far too common. Many insects stand no chance against the large 

 number of sparrows, starlings, robins, &c., that swarm in our 

 parks and round the suburbs of London. — H. Sharp ; 23, Union 

 Street, Portland Place, London, W. 



BoMBYX QUERCUS OR CALLUN.E. — Many years ago I wrote to 

 my old and valued friend, the late Henry Doubleday, to ask him 

 to explain to me the diiference between Bomhyx quercus and B. 

 callunce. In reply he sent me a pair of typical B. quercus, 

 desiring me to observe that in northern specimens [callunce) the 

 white spot on the upper wings of the male moth are seen on the 

 under as well as the upper surface ; also that the bands differ. 

 " In quercus, on the upper wings the band turns inwards, and 

 forms on the under wings nearly a semicircle. In caUuncB, 

 on the lower margin of the upper wings the band turns 

 outward, and on tlie under wings turns downward to the anal 

 angle." Mr. Doubleday also mentioned that the form figured 

 as B. quercus in Newman's ' Moths ' was the typical form of 

 B. callunce. He believed B. quercus and B. callunce to be dis- 



