THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 817 



252. Erastria venustula at Epping Forest. — This insect 

 has again made its appearance at Epping Forest. On the 

 5th of July 1 was at Loughlon, and took a single specimen, 

 beaten from a low beach-bnsh : a few specimens were also 

 taken by other Entomologists on the same day. It has not, 

 I believe, been uncommon this year, as at least two dozen 

 have been taken to my knowledge. — S. A. Davis, jun., in 

 Ent. Mo. Mag. 



253. Lepidoptera near Leominster in 1865. — I have taken 

 the following Lepidoptera near Leominster this summer : — 

 Brephos Notha, Trachea piniperda, Taeniocampaleucographa, 

 T. opiraa, T. Populeti, several T. gracilis, T. miniosa, Xaii- 

 thia aurago, Xyhna semibrunnea, Sphinx Convolvuli, Eupi- 

 thecia consignata, E. dodoneata, Colias Edusa (not seen in 

 Herefordshire since 1859). — E.S. Hutchinson; Grantsjield, 

 Leominster, September 26, 1865. 



254. Method of keeping Pupa} of Lepidoptera. — Possibly 

 ray method of keeping pupae may be new to many Entomo- 

 logists, and perhaps you may think it desirable to draw atten- 

 tion to it through the pages of the ' Entomologist.' I should 

 particularly like to know whether the substance I use has 

 been tried by other Entomologists. I keep all my pupae that 

 I obtain by digging, in partially-decayed cocoa-nut refuse, 

 mixed with about one-fourth ihe bulk of pure sand. This 

 substance I prefer to soil, as being perfectly free from insects, 

 and a much better non-conductor than soil, much lighter, 

 and free from any vegetable fungus : I keep my pupae in 

 common flower-pots about three-parts full of this substance, 

 and buried from half an inch to two inches in the soil, 

 according to the size of the pupae. Judging from the con- 

 dition in which I rtnd pupae in a state of nature, 1 conclude 

 they are more likely to suffer from any extreme of moisture 

 than dryness ; at the same time I mean to damp mine occa- 

 sionally (perhaps once a fortnight during the autumn and 

 winter), by watering the substance in which they are placed 

 with an ordinary watering-pot. The bottom of each pot is 

 covered with a piece of slate or oyster-shell, fitting close 

 enough to prevent worms, &c., getting into the pot, but ad- 

 mitting any superfluity of moisture freely to pass away. Each 

 pot is covered with perforated zinc, thus securing them from 

 the attacks of mice, &c., while air is freely admitted to them. 



