912 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



peculiar domicile it constructs lias led to the probably erroneous 

 opinion that the larva feeds there. An infested flower-head can 

 easily be recognised by the peculiar bunch forming this house 

 standing isolated on the stalk, whilst the surrounding achenes 

 have been blown away. It is a mistake, too, to think that the 

 infested heads generally hang over ; a few do so, undoubtedly. 

 This, I think, is due to the larva, when feeding inside, clearing 

 out too much of the cellular tissue on one side, and eating 

 through to the epidermal tissue, which contracts, and hence 

 pulls down the capitulum ; but in nine cases out of ten the 

 infested heads are more upright than the uninfested ones. I may 

 add that the larvae seem to choose few but the strongest heads. 

 I liave already bred imagines from larvse found on May 13th, the 

 pupal stage only lasting from May 21st to June 5th. I should 

 like to know whether any entomologist has ever observed the 

 larva actually eating the achenes or pappus. — J. W. Tutt ; 

 Kayleigh Villa, Westcombe Park, S.E., June 0, 1887. 



Ephestia kuhniella in London. — At the meeting of the 



South London Entomological Society, June 9th, Mr. T. D. A. 



Cockerell exhibited a number of larvae feeding in flour, which 



were obtained from a cargo lying, I believe, in the London 



Docks, the cargo being partly spoiled by the larvae. He kindly 



gave me a number of them, and during the month (July) imagines 



have been coming out, the species being, as was suggested at the 



meeting, Ephestia kuhniella. That they would soon establish 



themselves and become a great pest can readily be believed. I 



have now very small larvae, pupae, and imagines, and should think 



that they were consecutively brooded, the ova hatching soon after 



being laid, the larvae feeding up and changing to pupae all the 



year round. The larvae want great care to keep them limited to 



a small space. I placed those I have in an apparently tight - 



fitting tin canister, but some of the larvae managed to crawl out 



of the small spaces where the lid did not quite touch the sides 



of the box. This migratory propensity does not seem to occur 



until the larvae are full-fed, when they leave their food to spin a 



small silken cocoon. The confined larvae, I find, mix up particles 



of flour in the cocoon, but they want some loose substance to spin 



up in, as otherwise they seem to die ofl" after having formed their 



cocoon. From an economic point of view this species is a very 



undesirable addition to our fauna. — J. W. Tutt. 



