THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 41 



early is surely a remarkable circumstance. — W. Borrer, 

 jun. : Cow/old, Sussex, January 23, 1866. 



Vanessa C-Alhuni in Winter. — I captured a specimen of 

 the above insect, in very fair condition, to-day (9th January), 

 while walking with two friends along the turnpike-road lead- 

 ing from Great Malvern to the Rhydd : it flew quite briskly, 

 apporently as fast as they do in the summer. I was much 

 surprised to see it on the wing, particularly as this is one of 

 the coldest days we have yet had : it is true the sun was 

 shining at the time, but it was freezing quite sharp in the 

 shade. C-Album was very plentiful about this neighbour- 

 hood last autumn ; I saw as many as fifty at a time in a 

 neighbour's garden, feeding on the fallen fruit. — IV. H. 

 Harper ; Copsewood, Great Malvern, January 9, 1866. 



Vanessa UrticcB emerging in December. — Is it not unusual 

 for the little tortoiseshell to emerge from the chrysalis in 

 mid-winter ? One emerged on the 23rd of December, and 

 another on Christmas Day. They were kept in the kitchen, 

 amongst various other pupae ; but they are the only ones that 

 emerged. — Stephen Clogg ; Looe, January 8, 1866. 



Larva of Polyommatus Phlaas Iiybernates. — On the 17th 

 of December last I ibund a number of the larvae of P. Phla^as 

 feeding on dock and ragwort: they are now hybernating, 

 and are very small. This proves that this species passes the 

 winter in the larva state. — Henry Moncreajf ; Southsea. 



Acker ontia Airopos : does it feed on the wing ? — Has any 

 one ever observed this insect taking its food while on the 

 wing ? The question has often occurred to me, does this 

 insect take its food like other of the Sphingidse, by hovering 

 over the flowers and inserting its proboscis into the nectary 

 of the flowers ? From the shortness of this organ I should 

 imagine the insect does not hover over the flowers, but settles 

 on the stem, and procures its food by probing, after the man- 

 ner of the humble-bees. Should any reader of the ' Entomo- 

 logist' have seen this insect feeding, and will conununicate 

 the desired information, other readers besides myself may 

 feel interested in the matter. — G. Norman ; Hull, January 

 22, 1866. 



[I imagine the natural food of the death's-head moth to be 

 the honey deposited by bees in their cells, a kind of food 

 which its very peculiar trunk seems to me especially adapted 



