256 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Larval Food-plants of Xanthcecia flavago. — I have been 

 taking the pupae of Xantha'cia flavago rather plentifully here during" 

 the last week of July ; and as they were found in plants of many 

 sjDecies my experience during this and former seasons may be worth 

 recording. The plants yielding the largest number of pupae have 

 been Carduus ijalustris, C. arvensis a,nA Digitalis purpurea. I took 

 sixty pupae from the last-named plant this year, but this was in a 

 spot where all the other food-plants were absent. The next most 

 productive plants were Carduus lanceolatus, C. acanthiades and 

 Seneeio jacobaa. The following plants produce pupae occasionally, 

 more in some years than in others ; they appear to provide a kind 

 of stand-by when the above-mentioned plants become scarce, as they 

 do at intervals : Arctiuvi lappa, Artemisia vulgaris, Bumex crispus, 

 B. ohtusifolius and Symphytum officitiale, but the larvae appear 

 particularly unhappy in the last on account of its watery nature. 

 There is considerable difference in the position of the pupae in the 

 stems, varying with each plant, but fairly constant in each species. 

 I think this is governed by the thickness of the tissue between the 

 pith and the cuticle at the point where the larva eats outward to 

 form the exit hole. This is seen by comparing Digitalis purpurea,. 

 where I find the pupae about a foot up the stems, which are nearly 

 solid below, and C arvensis, the stems of which are very hollow 

 throughout. Here the pupae are at the bases of the stems, with the 

 exit hole three or four inches above. The larva when gnawing out 

 the exit hole stops short at the epidermis, which it leaves unbroken, 

 like other larvae with similar habits. ^ — A. H. Thompson ; 54, Church 

 Eoad, North wich. 



Colour Variation of Odezia atrata. — On July 8th, 1918, in a 

 meadow near Burnley, O. atrata {chceropliyllata) was flying very 

 abundantly, and among them was a very light form, which I captured. 

 It was in fine condition and of a golden-brown colour. — W. G. 

 Clutten ; Burnley. 



The Insects of East Grinstead District. — An effort is being 

 made to bring together the entomologists of the East Grinstead 

 neighbourhood with the object of compiling a local list of insects, 

 and generally to help young and old entomologists in studying the 

 insects of this neighbourhood. Mr. F. J. Hanbury, F.L.S., F.E.S., 

 has kindly consented to be patron of the society. Anyone interested 

 in the above is requested to communicate with me. — H. C. Jidden- 

 FiSHER (Major) ; Apsley Town, East Grinstead. 



Apple Aphides. — The disease of apples, commonly known as 

 aphis, dolphin or blue bug blight, is at times a source of serious 

 loss to fruit-growers. It is caused by one or more of eight different 

 kinds of plant-lice or aphides, but by far the greatest damage is due 

 to four only. These are (1) the blue bug or rosy apple aphis, (2) the 

 green apple aphis, (3) the oat apple aphis, and (4) the woolly aphis 

 or American blight. The first three of these aphides are dealt with 

 in Leaflet No. 330, which has just been issued by the Board of 

 Agriculture. After pointing out the characteristic nature of the 

 damage done by each of the aphides, the leaflet traces briefly their 

 life-histories, and finally suggests treatment for destroying the pests. 



