JULY. 229 



GibbosaJ. I have obtained several new species of NoctiicB, 

 among which is the Gamma Moth (Plusia Gamma J , so 

 common in England, with GeometrcB, Tortrices, and TinecB ; 

 two of these last, belonging to that very elegant division 

 called Veneer Moths (Crambus), and another to a division 

 of very minute moths, (Microsetia f J known by their bur- 

 nished metallic appearance. 



F. — You have been fortunate in rearing your winter 



pup 86. 



C. — Yes ; I have scarcely lost one out of a great number 

 that I wintered. I pursued a plan that you recommended ; 

 late in the fall, after the Bombyces had all spun their co- 

 coons, I buried the breeding-boxes in the earth, very lightly 

 covering them. In the spring, as soon as the ground was free 

 from frost, I dug them out, and have been rewarded for my 

 trouble, by some fine moths. On first opening the boxes, all 

 the inside was clothed with a fine white downy mould, 

 nearly an inch high, but impalpable. 



F. — I was induced to recommend that plan, on account 

 of my own failures : in the preceding winter, I had upwards 

 of fifty pupse, chiefly Bombyces, which I kept in their boxes 

 in a dry cupboard. — In the spring, I had scarcely a single 

 imago out of that number, the pupse being dead and dry. 

 I then considered that to be successful, I must adhere more 

 closely to their habits in a state of nature : we usually find 

 the cocoons of Bombyces in the spring, on the ground beneath 

 large stones, boards, &c., where the earth affords them the 

 moisture necessary to life, and the snow probably secures them 

 from congelation. For this reason, I advised you to bury 

 them lightly ; and it seems the result has answered my ex- 

 pectations. 



C. — The appearance of the mould struck me as being 

 curious. I know it is a vegetable production; but how 

 could its seeds have found access into my shut boxes ? 



