THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 285 



its power of emitting sounds, or the combination of all these 

 peculiarities, be the cause I know not, but certain it is that 

 the Todtenkopfschnurrer, Todtenkopf, or Todtenvogel, is re- 

 garded with superstitious dread by our German neighbours, 

 who believe its appearance an evil omen, presaging fau)ine 

 and death ; and that the singular noise it makes is the utter- 

 ance of the obnoxious prophecy. In this country the insect 

 is a "blight" or "vermin" to the uninstructed, and as such 

 is ruthlessly destroyed. I have received the magnificent larva 

 and abundance of the pupae of this species, through the kind- 

 ness and liberality of Mr. Morris, of Deptford. — Edward 

 Newman. 



Life-hktory of Biston hirtarius. — In the month of April 

 the moth may be seen at rest on the trunk of almost every 

 tree that grows in London, particularly poplar, lime, pink 

 hawthorn, and lilac : the females are generally busily occu- 

 pied with the task of laying their eggs, thrusting their long 

 slender ovipositor into the crevices of the bark : this eco- 

 nomy is so imperative that I have never been able to induce 

 the female to part with her eggs unless some substitute for 

 the bark was provided ; no leaves offer her any temptation ; 

 but if the female be confined in a chip-box, and the hd not 

 quite closed, she will find the crack, and, protruding her 

 ovipositor, will lay her eggs as far off" as she can reach on the 

 outside of the box. The young larvae emerge in fifteen days, 

 and, after devouring the egg-shell, ascend the trunk, and dis- 

 tribute themselves singly over the whole tree : their first 

 efforts are indicated by very small holes in the leaves, parti- 

 cularly observable in the recently-expanded leaves of lime 

 and lilac : the larvae grow very rapidly, and by the third 

 week in June have attained their full size, and before de- 

 scending for pupation may often be observed on the trunks 

 of the trees, reposing in a perfectly straight position. Head 

 semiporrect, not notched on the crown, narrower than the 

 2nd segment, into which it is partially received : body almost 

 uniformly cylindrical, the skin a good deal folded trans- 

 versely ; the ventral surface of the 4th segment produced; 

 the 5th, 6ih, 7th, 8th and 9th segments have each four mi- 

 nute warts arranged in a transverse series ; the 12th segment 

 has two somewhat ai)proximate and rather larger dorsal 

 warts, and the J 3th segment has two smaller warts on the 



