THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 3 



Andrews ; Lilleshall Rectory^ Newport, Salop, November 

 17, 1865. 



N^ote on Acherontia Atropos. — Among the many parts of 

 England in which this insect has been abundant, the neigh- 

 bourhood of Winchester should be mentioned. During the 

 four months of July to October thirty-five specimens were 

 brought to me by boys and others occupied in the neigh- 

 bouring gardens and potato- fields, some in the larva state, 

 some in the pupa, and two perfect insects. Of the cater- 

 pillars two were of the gray variety with white heads ; the 

 rest green, being perhaps of different sexes. All were fed on 

 potato-leaves, and underwent their first transformation in 

 August and September. About one in six of the pupae 

 assumed the perfect form in October ; the remainder are 

 lively when touched, and will, I suppose, remain in their 

 present state till next year. The moths were easily killed by 

 placing them in a wide-mouthed French-plum bottle, sepa- 

 rated by a layer of cotton wool from some bruised laurel- 

 leaves. They became torpid in a short time, and at the 

 expiration of twenty-four hours, during which they were kept 

 in a dark place, they were quite dead. — C. A. Johns; Winton 

 House, Winchester. 



Acherontia Atropos and its Poiver of Squeaking. — Mr. 

 Johnson states [Entom, ii. 325] that this is caused by respi- 

 ration through an aperture under each superior wing, the 

 aperture having a covering of hairs which, when the insect 

 squeaks, assume a form like the bottom of a flageolet, and 

 are depressed and lie even with the body when at rest. This 

 solution, however, cannot be the right one, as is at once 

 proved by the fact that the female squeaks as loud as the 

 male, although she has no such trumpet-shaped apertures. 

 I have bred a few specimens of Atropos this season, and 

 from my observations of them am inclined to think the 

 sound is caused by the forcible passage of air through the 

 spiracles. The members by which Mr. Johnson supposes 

 the sound is produced have been under my notice for some 

 lime back, having first observed them in Xylophasia polyo- 

 don a few years ago (in which species they are strongly de- 

 veloped), and since in various other species of Lepidoptera; 

 and as 1 am not aware that they have been mentioned by 

 any author I will give a rough description of them. They 



