154 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the third, in the morning of the 13th of July ; the fourth pairing 

 took phice on the 36th of Jul}^ at 8.30 in the evening, and lasted 

 twenty-four hours — 286 were obtained from this last pairing. 

 The eggs were sent to various correspondents, but no communi- 

 cations were sent to me respecting the result of the rearings. 



Actias luna, Linn. — With twenty- one cocoons of this species, 

 the moths of which emerged from the 6th of June to the 21st of 

 June, only one pairing was obtained on the 12th of June, and the 

 female died without laying any eggs. The moths, though small, 

 were for the most part perfect. On the 10th of June there were 

 five couples which were all placed in the open air in the 

 garden, but no success was obtained, the weather being very 

 unfavourable. 



On the 3rd of July I received from my correspondent in 

 Brooklyn a box of eggs, which hatched on the day of their 

 arrival. Two other bojces I received on the 5th, but the larvae 

 had hatched and died in transit. On the 7th a larger box came, 

 the larvre hatching well, and there were about 400 in splendid 

 condition nearly all hatched on the day the box arrived. I bred 

 some of these larvae on walnut, others on plum. The larvse 

 feeding on walnut grew rapidly, those on plum very slowly. 

 Although Actias lima is very polyphagous in America, here it 

 seems to thrive best on walnut. I discontinued the rearing of 

 this and several other species at the end of July, shortly before 

 my departure for Paris, when I entrusted the remaining larvae 

 and cocoons to a friend. 



During my absence five or six little boxes of luna cocoons 

 were sent to me from Brooklyn. With the exception of a few, all 

 the cocoons hatched during the month of August, the moths 

 pairing readily with the warm weather. Thousands of fertile ova 

 were sent to me to Paris. These were distributed among several 

 members of the Societe d'Acclimatation and entomologists in 

 various parts, but none of them, as far as I have been informed, 

 succeeded in rearing the larvae till the formation of the cocoons, 

 the foliage having failed before that time. On my return to 

 Norbiton, on the 1st of September, I found a box of luna ova 

 received the day before I arrived at home, but the larvae had 

 nearly all hatched, and the few which were still alive soon died. 

 On the 4th of September two more boxes of eggs arrived, and 

 the larvae of these hatched remarkably well. Several entomolo- 



