30 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



beginning of April, when they are full fed, they seem to 

 prefer the flowers to the leaves : they feed entirely by night. 

 A little farther on I detected another at rest on a piece of 

 dead grass. The hedges were terribly soaked after the recent 

 heavy rain, and every bush and plant was dripping; but, 

 notwithstanding this, after an hour's careful searching we 

 succeeded in taking some forty larvaj of various species. The 

 most numerous were those of Epunda lichenea, of which 

 about thirt}' of different sizes, some half grown and others 

 very small, were secured. The greater part of these were 

 found stretched on stems of dead grass, dock, twigs, &c., and 

 several of the smallest individuals were sitting in the Sphinx- 

 like attitude described in Newman's ' British Moths.' I 

 noticed that they generally occurred in little families of five 

 or six, and few of them appeared to be eating, as, no doubt, 

 they had merely crawled up to enjoy the soft balmy air ; 

 those that were observed feeding were discussing dock, sorrel, 

 chickweed, and a common sort of grass. In colour, about two- 

 thirds of these larvae are pale green, the remainder, the 

 largest ones, being of a mottled olive, and a few of them are 

 suffused with a slight pinkish bloom. The other species 

 taken appear to be Tryphsena pronuba, orbona and janthina, 

 Leucania lithargyria, Phlogophora meticulosa, Noctua Xan- 

 ihographa, and a single larva — a big fellow — we cannot 

 determine, but which may be a variety of Trypha?na fimbria. 

 We reached home again at half-past eight, much pleased 

 with the result of our evening's work. 1 hope this account 

 will induce other entomologists to bestir themselves at this 

 early season ; and, let me tell them, that more larvae are to be 

 obtained on mild evenings at this time of the year than later 

 on, when they will be more difficult to find, on account of 

 the vegetation growing and becoming thicker. — Gervase F. 

 Mathew ; Admiralty House, Devoiiport, January 14, 1872. 



Larva of Sphinx Li gii sir i feeding on Teasel. — In July I 

 observed a larva of S. Ligustri feeding on wild teasel ; 

 1 think an unusual plant for it. I kept it two or three days, 

 during which time it fed freely on the teasel, but left it as 

 soon as I placed privet within its reach. — Stephen Clogg ; 

 Looe, December 14, 1871. 



Scarcity of Hepialus Hnmuli. — As far as my observations 

 extend, this common species has ceased to be abundant 



