232 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Amphidasys betularia. — With reference to Mr. Hall's en- 

 quiry (Entom. 182), I may say that every specimen of this moth 

 which I have bred has been of tlie black variety ; but three years 

 ago I took a single specimen of the normal form, which is the 

 only one I have met with. — R. H. Thompson ; 60, Parsonage 

 Road, Withington, Manchester, July 30, 1887. 



Strenia clathrata at Slough. — I took a specimen of this 

 insect on June 9th, and again another, quite fresb, on July 31st; 

 a hot and dry summer produces two broods of some species. I 

 should like to know if this has ever been known of S. clathrata, 

 or are there successive emergences of this insect under certain 

 atmospherical conditions ? — J. Seymour St. John ; Chalfont St. 

 Peter, Slough. 



Food of Lobophora viretata. — I should be sorry to question 

 Mr. Harcourt Bath's statement (Entom. 211) that the fact of 

 L. viretata feeding on the berries of the holly "was known to 

 several members of the Birmingham Naturalists' Club some 

 years ago." But, if so, they have been very cautious about 

 imparting information to others. I made the enquiry (Entom. 

 xix. 181) what was the connection between this insect and the 

 holly ? and to that enquiry the only answer given was by 

 Mr. Harcourt Bath himself, on page 255 of the same volume, 

 where he says, " This insect feeds on holly," but gives no evidence, 

 either from his own observation or from any other source, to 

 prove his statement. It happens also that, when your August 

 number reached me, I was in the company of Mr. G. Blatch, a 

 well-known Birmingham entomologist, and he distinctly assured 

 me that neither he nor Dr. Warwick Jordan — whom I believe 

 Mr. Harcourt Bath would acknowledge to be an authority on such 

 matters — had any previous knowledge of the fact stated by me 

 in your columns this year. I think therefore that it is only fair 

 to ask Mr. Harcourt Bath for the names of (say) two members of 

 the Birmingham Naturalists' Club who "knew" that holly was 

 the food-plant of L. viretata; or, if he objects to give them, the 

 name of the magazine (referred to by Mr. Bath as " some 

 magazine ") in which the record of their observations is to be 

 found. I do not care in the least whether I or some previous 

 observer can claim the credit of the discovery, but I do think 

 that in a publication like the ' Entomologist ' we ought to have 



