THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 366 



Piipce in Birch and Oak. — I send with this pieces of small 

 branches of birch and oak, each containing pupae of a 

 Coleopteron. The wood from which the pieces were taken 

 formed part of some fagots cut from a young wood here 

 rather more than three years ago, and since lain stacked in 

 my garden. About every third or fourth piece I come to 

 contains one or more of these pupa), and, judging from the 

 extent of the minings, the injury to the living tree must be 

 considerable. The wood in my possession is nearly exclu- 

 sively birch, but the few pieces of oak intermixed appear to 

 have suffered in an equal degree. I should be glad if you 

 would kindly tell me the name of the species. — Wni. J. 

 Argent: IVanstead, March 22, 1873. 



[I prefer wailing for their emergence before T pronounce a 

 decided opinion : it cannot be long before they declare 

 themselves. — E. Netvman.] 



Blind Cave Beetles. — M. Pouchet having received from 

 M. Perez, of Bordeaux, some living specimens of Anoph- 

 thalmus Leschenaultii, with a view to continuing his ob- 

 servations on the influence of light on insects deprived of the 

 external organs of vision, — havingbeen compelled from various 

 causes to abandon this study for a time, — has placed them in 

 my hands, and I have made some observations on these 

 insects which may possibly be useful to others. I put them 

 in a little box and kept them iu a cave, with a view of 

 imitating their natural condition, and expecting by this 

 means to obtain eggs, from which to rear larvae ; unfor- 

 tunately, three out of the four specimens which M. Pouchet 

 had transmitted to me having died, 1 abandoned this 

 project, and decided on publishing at once his observations 

 on their habits and conduct in captivity. M. Pouchet began 

 to feed his specimens on bodies of Musca Caesar, which 

 he deprived of their head and wings : two of the Anoph- 

 ihalmus at first seemed satisfied with this provender, but 

 very soon they refused any longer to partake of it, although 

 they often passed over the body of this fly ; they absolutely 

 refused to notice juvenile sjiiders, woodlice, and minute 

 beetles, although they constantly passed by the side of these 

 delicacies, and even mounted upon them, without seeming to 

 notice their presence. On the contrary, they comforted 

 themselves greatly with those little mud-worms, or blood- 



