138 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



they are far from being so plentiful as they were previously 

 to 1871. I have generally obtained the caterpillars of 

 Lithargyrea by cutting open the old stems of thistles and 

 umbelliferous plants, to which they resort for concealment 

 during the day, but have been unsuccessful in finding one. 

 Polyodon has always been an excessively abundant larva 

 under stones on our ballast-heaps, but this, like the other 

 species mentioned above, has been influenced by the weather, 

 and is considerably scarcer than usual. The Micro-Lepi- 

 doptera, I regret to say, are very sparing as yet, and many of 

 them are late in making their appearance. Elachista rufo- 

 cinerea and E. cygnipennella are fully two months later than 

 I have generally seen ihem. Numerous other species could 

 have been recorded in this paper, but I think sufficient have 

 been noticed to show that — by comparing the remaining part 

 of the season with the past three months — our wanderings in 

 search of Lepidoptera will, I fear, be weary and uninteresting, 

 as there is such a falling off of the larvae of the commoner 

 insects, and it is only reasonable for us to suppose that the 

 rarer species will be sparing indeed. I make these few 

 remarks entirely from my own experience. Probably other 

 collectors in the north may have been more fortunate, and 

 render a better account than 1 can at present. — Christopher 

 Bales ; 21, Grace Street, South Shields, June 10, 1872. 



Description of the Larva of Taniocarnpa cruda. — Last 

 year, on the 2nd of April, I received from Mr. F. E. Harman, 

 of Whitfield, near Hereford, a {q^ eggs (or rather larvge, as 

 they had hatched on the way) of this insect. When just 

 emerged the caterpillar is dirty greenish, with a rather large, 

 shining black head. Until a length of about half an inch has 

 been attained, it lives in a sort of retreat formed by drawing 

 together, by means of silken threads, several leaves; and 

 afterwards it still forms a siujilar retreat in which to moult. 

 The adult larva is about 1^ inch in length, and of moderate 

 bulk in proportion. Head globular, about the same width as, 

 or perhaps very slightly broader than, the 2nd segment; body 

 cylindrical, and of uniform thickness throughout ; skin 

 smooth and soft, semi-translucent, and rather glossy. The 

 ground colour is dark smoky green, variegated with yellowish 

 green, in some specimens the yellowish green predominating; 

 both the ground and markings vary in intensity in different 



