522 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Deilephila livornica and D. Galii in Devon. — I think it 

 worthy of being inserted in your 'Entomologist' that I have 

 just obtained a specimen of D. Uvornica, bred by a Mr. 

 Kickard, who found nine of the larvae feeding on dock in a 

 nursery in Plymouth, and who had the good fortune to feed 

 them all up on that plant; and the same season, 1870, all 

 came out perfect insects; one which had its wings crumpled 

 up I also possess. I may mention that season I took six at 

 petunias, and two Galii at verbenas. The above appeared to 

 be all dark varieties of larvae. — John Purdue; Ridgeway, 

 Plympton, Devon. 



Eriogaster lanestris. — 1 shall be much obliged if you will 

 kindly tell me the name of the larvae I forward to you, as I 

 cannot find any description in your 'British Moths' that 

 corresponds to them. They were found in May, feeding 

 gregariously under a web on hawthorn ; the eggs were covered 

 with brown down, and continued hatching daring June; the 

 young larvae were almost black, without spots, and having 

 coral-red claspers. 1 expected they would prove to be 

 E. lanestris; but now that they are full grown they do not 

 answer to your description of Lanestris larvae : they have no 

 red warts on the back ; and instead of three white spots have 

 either two or four, and some of them have none ; in the place 

 of the pale gray lateral stripe they have a yellow line, inter- 

 rupted at each segment, where it turns at a right angle 

 half-way up the back, and forms the border to a square, 

 velvety patcli of short orange-brown hairs ; the claspers are 

 still coral-red. At the end of June, when Lanestris spins up, 

 many of my larvae were but a few days old, and they are only 

 now beginning to form their cocoons. — Frances Steele Per- 

 kins ; Ashgrove, Rhuahon, North Wales, July 29, 1873. 



[I suppose the larvae to be Eriogaster lanestris ; but the box 

 was broken and they had escaped. — Edward Newman.^ 



Supposed Occurrence of Leucania commoides in Kent. — 

 During the first week in August I took, in a spot bordering 

 on Romney Marsh, four specimens of a Leucania which was 

 quite unknown to me, yet which I fancied might be only a 

 variety of some known species. I forwarded a pair, male 

 and female, to Mr. Doubleday, and he has sent me the 

 following letter respecting them : — ^^ Epping, September 3rd, 

 1873. 1 will return your two Leucania this n)orning, and 

 hope you will receive them uninjured. Mr. Buckler has 



