THE ENTOMOLOGIST. » 



friend I have been enabled to rear this pretty vapourer from 

 the egg this summer. I received some eggs from the North 

 of England the latter part of June : these produced larvae on 

 the 1st of July. Tliey were supphed with oak and sallow, 

 the latter appearing to be the favourite, on which they fed 

 well and grew fast; three, however, were always smaller than 

 the rest, and grew very slowly : these ceased eating, and hy- 

 bernated on the 4th of September. The rest spun up from 

 the 26th of July to the 5ih of August, and the perfect insects 

 appeared from the 5th to the 15th of August. Two of each 

 sex that emerged on this day were allowed to remain : on 

 the morning of the 16th copulation took place, and directly 

 on separation the females began depositing their eggs on the 

 cocoons from which they came out. The eggs as they were 

 laid were loosely covered with down from the female's body. 

 This is an operation O. antiqua does not perform, the eggs 

 of this species, so far as I have observed, being always laid 

 bare. From the 1st to the 4th of September the eggs that 

 were laid on the 16th of August began hatching, and by the 

 next day dozens of the larvae were to be seen on their food- 

 plants. They fed well, and about the middle of October pre- 

 pared for hybernation. They drew the leaves of the plants 

 together with silken threads, after which they changed their 

 skins within their winter domicile, and ceased feeding. From 

 the above it will be seen that this insect went through its 

 transformations in a period of about six weeks, while three 

 ot the same brood are now dormant larvae. — J. Fristo ; 

 Alierstone, Whippingliatn, Isle of Wight. 



Bred Varieties of Sierrha Sacmria.— Mr. M'Lachlan ex- 

 hibited a female specimen of Sierrha Sacraria captured near 

 Worthing on the 19th of August last, and six specimens 

 which had been reared by the Rev. J. Hellins from eggs laid 

 by the aforesaid female on that day. Seven eggs were de- 

 posited, but one was crushed during transmission to Mr. 

 Hellins ; the remaining six all hatched on the 29th of August; 

 the larvae were fed on Polygonum aviculare, spun up between 

 the 19lh and 23rd of September, and were all in pupa by the 

 30th. The first moth, a female, emerged on tiie 15th of 

 October, two more females on the 17lh, a fourth female on 

 the 19lh, a male on the 25th, and, lastlv, another male on 

 the 28th of October. A full description of the egg, larva and 



