THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 71 



periodical I cannot do otherwise than observe that the autho- 

 rities of Basle offer no reward whatever for the destruction of 

 butterflies, the obnoxious species of this order not being nu- 

 merous enough in the said district to do any considerable 

 harm ; but evidently the above-mentioned statement appUes 

 to Melolontha vulgaris (cockchatfer), which appears there in 

 considerable numbers every year. It is to check these destruc- 

 tive insects that the Basle Government in some years spends 

 about one thousand francs (not 1,000,000 fs.) to have them col- 

 lected. There is a rule that from every acre of cultivated 

 land a certain number of measures must be gathered, and the 

 proprietors are fined if they do not do so ; whereas in bring- 

 ing the cockchaffers to certain places they receive about ten 

 to twenty centimes per measure. The beetles are then killed 

 in kettles with boiling water, and either utilized as manure 

 or thrown in the water. The above explanations are given 

 in order to prevent some of your readers believing that the 

 authorities of the commercial city of Basle are buying up the 

 obnoxious insects at the rate of about tenpence a dozen, and 

 that the insects, for which a very small amount, say about a 

 penny or twopence per measure, is paid, are not butterflies, 

 but cockchaffers. Basle being my native place, I could not 

 allow such statements as the above without correcting them. 

 — Albert Midler ; 33, Guildford Street, Russell Square, Au- 

 gust 2, 1864. 



12. Notodonta hicolor in Ireland. — It is reported that 

 Mr. Bouchard has again taken this rarity in the Killarney 

 district of the County Kerry. 



13. Food-plant of Eitpithecia pulchellata. — This interest- 

 ing entomological puzzle is at last solved : we are indebted 

 to Mr. Doubleday for suggesting the solution of the problem, 

 and to Mr. Hellins for working it out. Mr. Harpur Crewe, 

 who has made the history of our Eupitheciae his especial 

 study, has sent a full description to the ' Zoologist.' The 

 larva spins up the mouth of the corolla of Digitalis purpurea 

 (common foxglove), and feeds on the enclosed stamens and 

 young seeds. 



14. Polyommatus Hippothoe near Westhu7"y. — In 'Young 

 England ' for August, Dr. Williams announces the capture of 

 this insect in Godly Grove, near Westbury : the talented 

 Editors, Messrs. Keays and Vaughan having expressed great 



