THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 265 



Pempelia Carnella in Essex. — A specimen of P. Carnella 

 was taken here this summer at light. 1 believe this to be a 

 new locality for it. — S. R. Bentall ; Nightingale Hall, Hal- 

 stead, Essex. 



Filaria in Larva of a Lepidopteron. I should like to 

 know if the following is of common occurrence. One morning 

 in October, when I opened ray breeding-cage, I noticed a 

 caterpillar of some Noctua, which had the appearance of 

 being ichneumoned. I left it for a few minutes, and on my 

 return saw it surrounded by a white thread, which, on closer 

 observation, I discovered to be a white worm, proceeding out 

 of the mouth of the caterpillar : it was about six inches long, 

 smooth, and as thick as coarse sewing-cotton ; on leaving the 

 caterpillar it took refuge in the moss. The caterpillar cravvled 

 away and concealed itself in the mould, without appearing to 

 have suffered in anyway from the parasite. — Annie Michael ; 

 High Street, Sevenoaks. 



[The parasite was a Filaria, a genus of entozoic worms, very 

 frequently inhabiting the larva? of Lepidoptera; but I have 

 never seen one escaping by the mouth. — Edward Newman.] 



Machaon and its Haunts. — In the 'Entomologist' for 

 October a paragraph, upon the probable disappearance of 

 this beautiful insect w^ithin a given time, is inserted from the 

 pen of Mr. Raynor, of Maldon. While residing at Norwich 

 it was my annual custom to collect large numbers of the 

 larvae of Machaon, — indeed for sixteen years I continued 

 to collect them in the proper season without an omission : 

 the result of this experience leads me to doubt very much the 

 theory, that in ten years hence it will be banished from its 

 marshy breeding-grounds. Not being acquainted with the 

 neighbourhood of Wicken Fen, 1 cannot determine whether 

 drainage will in ten years time exterminate the species in 

 that quarter, and thus cause it to seek refuge at Maldon, but 

 of the Norfolk fens no such result is to be feared, for miles 

 above Horning, and thence nearl}^ down to Yarmouth, 

 Machaon breeds as plentifully now as when I first visited 

 the locality ; neither is it probable, from the very nature of 

 these fens, that drainage can be introduced so to materially 

 affect the nature of the bogs where the larva is found : these 

 are composed of peat (sometimes called turf), or, in other 

 words, decayed vegetable matter, which can be easily 



