206 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the case of Exotic moths and butterflies which have been set for some 

 time, and the contents of whose bodies have hardened ? 



Thirdly and lastly, with regard to the preparation of larvae for 

 the cabinet. It would appear the method of inflation, after removal of 

 the contents of the body, in the majority of instances materially alters 

 or afi:ects the colour and shape of the specimens. Could not the natural 

 colours and condition be permanently preserved by merely bottling, 

 corking-up and sealing each larva, without removing contents of body, 

 in a glass-tube filled with turpentine or spirits of wine, after the 

 manner recommended for spiders ? If so, which of the said two spirits 

 is the better for the purpose ? and what could be used, which would not 

 yield to the action of the liquid, to stick or fix the specimen to the 

 side of the tube in the fashion desired ? 



I must apologise for troubling you at this length, but I am 

 encouraged by the couplet on the cover of the * Entomologist ' — 

 "By mutual confidence and mutual aid 

 Great deeds are done and great discoveries made." 



Through which valuable medium I shall be glad to receive the aforesaid 

 information. — J. R. Cattle; 115, King Edward Road, London, N.E., 

 May 20th, 1895. 



CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 



BoMBYX KUB[ BRED. — I was successful whilst in Wales in breeding two 

 female and one male specimen of Boinbyx ruhi out of only six larvae 

 obtained there last autumn. They were kept out of doors in a small box 

 with glass front and two small apertures at the sides with perforated zinc ; 

 a piece of turf about two inches thick was placed in the bottom ; the larvae 

 were fed on bramble, and all of them spun up this spring ; but I found 

 that two had died without turning to pupae, and the other pupa had 

 decayed. The first female emerged May 20th, apparently early, as I was 

 unable to attract any males; the second emerged June 4th, and this time 

 I was successful with three males, one of which I allowed to copulate ; this 

 was at 7.30 in the evening, and by 10 p.m. the female was depositing ova 

 freelv. — T. B. Jei'^feuys; Bath, (late) Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, June 

 13th, 1895. 



Deilephila livornica in Devonshire. — On June 2ud, about 8.30 

 p.m., my father, gathering verbena flowers in our garden near Plymouth, 

 in Egg Bucklaud parish, took a fine specimen of this insect. It was so 

 active that its thorax got somewhat badly rubbed. The locality is an 

 inland one, being about four miles from the sea, and as I hear the species 

 was taken a year or two ago on Dartmoor, it seems that it breeds around 

 Plymouth.— P. J. Briggs; Exeter College, June 10th, 1895. 



Collecting in North Staffordshire. — Lepidoptera appear to be 

 out in great numbers in this county so far this season. I was collecting 

 with my friend Mr. F. C. Woodforde, of Market Drayton, in some woods 

 in North Staffordshire, from June 1st to 4th, when we took the following 

 species, amongst others : — Arygnnis eiophrosyne, Chcerocamjja poi'celius, one 

 at dusk; Nola confusalis, abundant; Bombyx ruhi, flying freely at sunset, 

 when we netted several specimens; Drepnna lacert'maria and D.falcatana, 



