THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 173 



torpidity, they had soon exhausted, in many cases, their 

 supply of leaves, and in some gardens they then devoured the 

 buds and blossoms, necessitating hand-picking. In one case 

 a party of them transferred themselves to a rose tree, — not an 

 unlikely selection if the blackthorn be, as suggested by Mr. 

 Newman, its natural food: therein the species showed itself 

 as the enemy of the gardener in another guise. Others, in 

 smaller numbers, settled down upon a peach tree. It was 

 remarkable that some of the larvge did not attempt to migrate 

 in search of food, but died on the stems of the bushes which 

 they had stripped, seemingly from starvation, for I have 

 rarely observed the larva of Grossulariata affected by any 

 ichneumonideous parasite. — J. R. S. Clifford. 



Early Hatching of the Eggs of Ptilophora plumigera. — 

 Most of us who have dabbled in insect-breeding have expe- 

 rienced the mortification, at some time, of opening a box 

 containing the eggs of a choice species, and finding that, 

 through too hasty emergence, the young larvae have sentenced 

 themselves to death by starvation. In certain cases, indeed, 

 it does not make much difference whether we do or do not 

 open the receptacle, as it may be quite out of our power to 

 get the fitting food. At an early date in March, eggs of 

 P. plumigera which I had, began to hatch, and there was no 

 foliage upon the maple, though the mildness of the preceding 

 February had accelerated the larval development. It has 

 been found in some species that when eggs have once shown 

 indications of hatching they cannot be retarded, or should 

 they be checked then the result is the death of the enclosed 

 brood. However, by placing the remainder of the above eggs 

 in a cool spot, enclosed in a tin box, I delayed the appear- 

 ance of the larvae until the maple buds were expanding. 

 This species is most obstinate in its determination to confine 

 itself to the one food-plant, refusing nearly-allied species, and 

 even willow, — so general an aliment in spring. The young 

 larvae would slightly nibble the leaves of ])lura, but inva- 

 variably died unless transferred to maple. — Id. 



Lepidoplera captured in Surrey. — 1 have taken during April, 

 May, and commencement of June, the following in Surrey : — 

 Omicronaria, Orbicularia, Genistae, Dolobraria, Alveolus, 

 Porata, Pendularia, Consignata, Decolorata, Lactearia, 

 Lunaria, Punctaria, Arbuti, Temerata, Taminata, Aureola, 



