XXV 
f 
‘early in August riddled the Ailanthus leaves, and knocked down the worms, of which 
‘many were killed. Nevertheless there would be a crop; his first cocoons were begun 
‘on the 18th of August, and he had a second smaller supply of younger larve to supply 
the vacancies caused by the previous inclemency of the weather. 
Mr.S. Stevens had recently visited Lady Dorothy Nevill’s Ailanthery, where also 
many larve had been blown off the trees by the wind, and it was necessary to employ 
a man or boy to replace them on the leaves. Birds, however, were seldom found to 
aitack the larve. 
Prof. Westwood said that wasps carried off the newly-hatched larve. He might 
mention that a correspondent of his had had a few of the larve in-doors, but two of 
them escaped ; after a time two specimens of the perfect moth were found upon the 
single Ailanthus tree which was growing in the garden. 
Mr. Pascoe directed attention to an account given by Mr. Consul Meadows, and 
published in a recent number of ‘ The Times,’ of a Chinese silk-worm, the pupa of 
which was used as an article of food. 
Prof. Brayley communicated the following extract from the Report of Mr. Vice- 
Consul Lay on the Trade of the Port of Che-foo in Northern China, recently pre- 
‘sented to Parliament :— 
“ Amongst the articles that can be exported from Che-foo, there is brown silk pro- 
: duced from the wild silk-worms that swarm in the mountain forests, and the quantity 
_of this article that could be brought into the market, if prices suited, may be computed 
at not less than 12,000 bales a-year. This silk is of different qualities, according to 
_the process and care adopted in reeling it from the cocoons, and some of it is well 
adapted for manufactures. The natives weave plain silk goods from it called ‘ pongees,’ 
and about 100,000 pieces of these stuffs could be bought annually.” 
Mr. A. F. Sheppard exhibited a box of Lepidoptera, all bred or captured in the 
Isle of Man by Mr. Gregson, and including Dianthecia cesia, D. capsophila (a var. 
of D. carpophaga in Mr. Gregson’s opinion), Sesia philanthiformis, Sericoris littorana, 
'Eupeecilia albicapitana, Sciaphila Colquhounana, Gelechia vicinella and G. leucome- 
lanella (which Mr. Gregson believed to be but one species), a new species of Gelechia, 
and the new Phycis, allied to P. dilutella, of which Mr. Bond exhibited a specimen at 
the July Meeting (ante, p. xviii). 
Mr. Stainton exhibited Gelechia vicinella, which had been bred by Mr. Gregson 
from larvee collected in the Isle of Man, feeding on Silene maritima; and Gelechia 
atrella, which had been bred by Mr. Jeffrey from larve collected near Saffron Walden, 
feeding in the stems of Hypericum. The first-named species belonged to the group of 
which the larve are all attached to plants of the natural order Caryopbyllacee, but 
Gelechia atrella had always been supposed to belong to the group of species attached 
to plants of the natural order Leguminose, and its occurrence on Hypericum was so 
startling that Mr. Stainton had at first suspected some error of observation ; however, 
Mr. Jeffrey’s statements were positive and conclusive, that he had bred fourteen 
specimens in three different receptacles, one of which had not been previously used for 
larvee, and that he had not collected any larve feeding on Leguminose before the first 
imago of G. atrella had appeared. The habit of the larva was, moreover, very 
peculiar; it burrowed in the stems of the Hypericum early in May, and thereby 
caused the upper shoots of the plant to droop, which had led to its discovery. 
E 
