96 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
the end of May, the first imago emerged on 5th August, and the 
last on 80th September. 
Larve of Conchylis francillana, taken in January, produced 
the first moth on 27th July, and the last on 11th September. 
A fine young larva of Smerinthus populi, found on a poplar in 
my garden in September, fed up well until the leaves began to 
turn, being then but little more than half its full size; from this 
time it appeared to become sickly, but lingered on until Novem- 
ber, when the trees having lost their leaves, it died, not having 
attained anything like its full growth. 
Larvee of Phalera bucephala were exceedingly common during 
the autumn months; the more forward fed up and took the earth 
in due course, but numbers of the later larve were not full-fed 
when the leaves fell. 
Acronycta pst was also common in the larval stage; and from 
several collected and supplied with leaves from the later varieties 
of garden rose-trees, one continued to feed until the first week in 
December, when it retired among some pieces of rotten wood for 
pupation; but I am at present unable to say whether that 
operation was successfully performed. 
The sequel appears to be that the comparatively cold, wet 
weather of the summer and autumn months was unfavourable 
alike for the emergence of the imago or the growth of the larva. 
The larve resulting from the earlier moths may have obtained 
necessary sustenance from the vegetation while it was in a 
suitable state, but those resulting from the later emergences were 
‘mpoverished by the advanced state of the only food obtainable, 
and fell victims to disease, or died of sheer starvation. 
Larve of many of the common species were undoubtedly 
more abundant than usual last autumn, but the state of things 
referred to in the foregoing notes, appears to indicate that a 
corresponding abundance of moths in the coming spring is 
improbable. 
Lewisham, January, 1892. 
SYNONYMY OF AMERICAN NOCTUID MOTHS. 
I am very glad that Prof. Smith has had the opportunity of 
personally going over our collection of Noctuide, and that his 
verdict—‘in the majority of instances his synonymy is correct ”— 
is so satisfactory. 
It is well known that Agrotis is a most difficult group, and 
therefore it is not surprising that I should make some mistakes 
in the case of very variable and closely assimilated species. In 
the case of the variety of A. turris placed with saucia, Prof. Smith 
admitted that the mistake was a very natural one. I admit that 
it is better to keep species separate than to unite them without 
