210 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Zyg^na MINOS IN Wales. — A few weeks since I received 

 several specimens of Z. minos, taken by a friend at the village of 

 Abersoch, on the north-west coast of Wales, on the 8th of June 

 last. As I have not heard of the previous occurrence of this 

 insect in England or Wales, I have thought it worth recording, 

 and shall be glad to hear if any of your correspondents have 

 taken it. My friend informs me that there were some hundreds 

 of the insect on one small plot of ground, but, not being a 

 collector himself, he only secured a few specimens, more for the 

 sake of information concerning the species than for any other 

 purpose. — L. L. Samuels; Victoria Park, Manchester, July 12. 



CiRRHCEDIA XERAMPELINA IN NoRTH WARWICKSHIRE. Mr. 



Stanley P. Jones's note (Entom. xix. 253), relating to the occur- 

 rence of this insect near Welshpool, reminds me that I captured 

 a specimen of the same species at rest on an ash tree in a lane 

 between Coleshill and Maxstoke Abbey, in August of last year. 

 I believe this is the first recorded occurrence of CirrhoecUa xeram- 

 pelina in the Tame Valley district. There are undoubtedly many 

 other good insects awaiting discovery in North Warwickshire, 

 which have been overlooked by our older lepidopterists. — W. 

 Haecourt Bath ; Birmingham, November, 1886. 



DiANTHCEOiA IjArvm Cannibals. — Last year Mr. Carrington 

 kindly gave us a short article on breeding Eiqnthecice, and 

 amongst other things stated what good results might be produced 

 from gathering the flower-heads of Silcne inflata. Last season, 

 having obtained a quantity of the flower-heads of both Silene 

 infiata and S. nutans, thinking to preserve them from getting too 

 dry I turned the lot into a large biscuit tin ; the result being 

 that the flower-heads soon went mouldy from the confined damp, 

 and a fine batch of miscellaneous larvae were all killed. This 

 year, after collecting the flower-heads, I shot them, just as they 

 were, into a linen pillow-slip, putting a few fresh heads in every 

 ten days or so as the others dried up. So far the result is 

 eminently satisfactory, as I have obtained a good many pupse 

 already, both of Eupithecice and Dianthoecics (probably chiefly 

 D. capsincola), and should have had more, but for the real 

 object of this communication, which is to warn anyone trying 

 this plan to keep a good look out about the time the larvae are 

 turning and to remove the pupse, otherwise if the Silene gets dry 



