462 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



galls nearly hemispherical, and about a sixteenth of an inch 

 in diameter. I am quite unacquainted with them, and of 

 course submitted ihera to Mr. VValker, who does not recog- 

 nize them, but he invited my attention to the fact that a 

 species of Cecidomyia inhabits galls on the leaves of Pruuus 

 spinosa (the sloe) : this is described under the specific name 

 of peregrina, at p. 94 of the third volume of Insecta Britan- 

 nica, Diptera.' These galls of the sloe also produce Acari. — 

 Edward Newman. 



Biston hirtaria Two Years in Pupa. — In 1871 eggs of the 

 above-named species were sent me, all of which duly hatched, 

 and the larvae in due course entered the pupa state, and in 

 the spring of 1872 moths were produced in abundance. At 

 the end of May this year I was somewhat surprised to find 

 two females in my rearing-cage freshly developed, and since 

 then three others, all females, have made their appearance: 

 these must have been part of the brood I had in 1871, as I 

 did not see the insect last season in any stage of its existence. 

 Such cases of retarded development often occur with other 

 species, as most of us know, but I do not recollect ever 

 hearing of a like occurrence with this particular species. — G. 

 B. Corhin. 



Cucullia Verhasci atid its Hood. — I suspect there are few 

 collectors of several seasons' experience who have not reared 

 this insect, for its very conspicuous and brightly-coloured 

 larva is easily detected and reared, and consequently it is a 

 general favourite with beginners. Last season I took a few 

 off some plants of mullein (which in this neighbourhood seem 

 to be its exclusive food), which duly produced moths at the 

 end of May. In previous seasons I have noticed how strongly 

 the hood or crest is developed in this species, and I deter- 

 mined to " set" a few specimens in their natural posilion 

 when at rest : this, however, I found to be difficult, if not 

 altogether impossible, for the hood — which in the living 

 insect is pointed forward, even beyond the line of the head-=— 

 is immediately erected or thrown back over the front of the 

 thorax when the insect is disturbed, for it seems to possess 

 the power of raising or lowering this crest, or collar, after the 

 manner of a cockatoo. The dark streak along the inner 

 margin of the fore wings, one of a similar hue down the 

 centre of the thorax, and the edges of the projecting hood, 

 form one continuous dark line down the entire length of the 



