520 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



maturity at the time of hybm*nation than one hatched a 

 month or six weeks later, and so after hybernation the fullest 

 fed larvae )3roduce the first moths. Certain it is that Cribrum 

 is met with in its especial haunts at any time from the middle 

 of June till the middle of August (although it is somewhat 

 uncertain in its flight, seeming to be a good discerner of 

 atmospheric differences), yet July is the month ^^ar excel- 

 lence for its appearance. I trust my friends and correspondents 

 will accept this as an answer to their several enquiries respect- 

 ing the occurrence of a second brood of the species in question. 

 ~G. B. Cor bin. 



In what Stage do Acheroniia Atropos and Sphinx Con- 

 volvuli pass the Winter'^ — It has been frequently asserted 

 that specimens of both species, of these our largest Sphingidae, 

 developed in the autumn are unfertile, or that the eggs may 

 be detected in a very undeveloped state, and that the species 

 are perpetuated by developments of the insects in June, Is 

 such the case ? I cannot speak with regard to the rearing of 

 Convolvuli, never having seen the larva, but at different 

 times I have had a number of larvae of Atropos, and all, with 

 one exception, produced moths in the autumn : on one occa- 

 sion a specimen passed the winter in the pupa state, and the 

 moth emerged in the following June. Thus it seems that if 

 the June specimens are the sole progenitors of the race, the 

 many are developed for an apparently purposeless life, whilst 

 upon the few devolve the whole responsibility of the con- 

 tinuation of the species. Such is, perhaps, the case with 

 Atropos ; but is it the same with Convolvuli, whose appearance 

 in the autumn is — as far as I can learn — its only one with us ? 

 Did any reader of the ' Entomologist' ever take a Convolvuli 

 at Midsummer ? It may be asked, — Does Convolvuli ever 

 pair in the autumn ? One instance of its doing so has come 

 under my observation, on October 4th, 1869, but no eggs 

 were deposited, thought 1 kept the female for some time. All 

 of us know how uncertain both Atropos and Convolvuli are in 

 their appearance, in some seasons being scarcely metwith at all, 

 whilst in others they are comparatively common ; but in the 

 case of both species the autumnal specimens are, as a rule, 

 more numerous than those to be taken in the summer, if 

 indeed Convolvuli is ever met with at that season. Is it 

 possible that in the case of Convolvuli we are indebted to a 



