84 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Thera oheliacaia of Hiihner. — I send you two larvae of our 

 Thera, which I think is really distinct from the variata of 

 Hubner, although T believe all modern Entomologists are of 

 a contrary opinion : Dr. Staudinger has sent me what he con- 

 siders intermediate varieties, but they do not seem so to me : 

 the true Thera variata is of an olive or greenish brown, with 

 a strongly dentated central fascia ; ours is always either of a 

 rufous or blackish tint, and the central fascia is scarcely at 

 all dentated. Hubner has figured the larva of variata with a 

 red head, and with the white stripes of the body continued 

 through the head; the larva of ours has a plain dull green 

 head, and the white stripes commence on the 2nd segment, 

 that is, immediatelv behind the head. — Henry Double day ; 

 Epping, May 4, 1866. 



Entomological Notes and Captures. 



The Bite of the Water Spider [Argynoreta aquatica). — 

 A specimen of this insect was taken by me in a ditch in the 

 Hackney marshes, where it is abinidant, and confined in a 

 bottle in which I placed a sprig of Callitriche. The next 

 morning I had the pleasure of seeing the curious subaqueous 

 air-bubble which the insect had constructed, so that I had 

 no doubt as to the character of ray capture. Removing it 

 from the water rather carelessly, the insect bit me. This was 

 quite unexpected, and I threw it down, being more under the 

 inrtnence of nervous apprehension than pain. I took it up a 

 second and a third time, and received two more bites for my 

 trouble. The sensations were at the time only momentarily 

 disagreeable, but not to be called painful. The fang of the 

 insect entered the nail of my fore-finger, producing a deadened 

 sensation of the bite, and leaving a very perceptible piuicture, 

 which is still visible on the surfvce, although it is now nearly 

 a fortnight ago. About half-an-hour alter 1 became conscious 

 of another bitten locality. The under surface of my fourth 

 finger had evidently received the poison. Near the first joint 

 from the nail there was a minute red point, barely perceptible 

 to the eye, but well-defined and unmistakable when examined 

 with a pocket-lens, no swelling, but a slight soreness on 

 pressure, the sensation continuous, resembling exactly the 



