THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 83 
adds that C. processionea spins up gregariously, in the web 
previously inhabited by the caterpillar. I think it may be 
interesting to add a few references to the history of Cnetho- 
campa pityocampa. 1. Pliny, (C.S.) ‘ Historia mundi natu- 
ralis,’ lib. xxxvill. c. 9. 2. Mouffet, ‘Theatrum, p. 185. 
3. Amoreux (P.J.), ‘Notice des Insectes de la France 
reputé Venimeux, p. 158. 4. Kirby and Spence, ‘ Intro- 
duction to Entomology, vol. i. p. 181: “Of this nature also 
is the famous Pityocampa of the ancients, the moth of the fir 
Lasiocampa pityocampa, the hairs of which are said to 
occasion a very intense degree of pain, fever, heat, itching 
and restlessness. It was accounted by the Romans a very 
deleterious poison, as is evident from the circumstance of the 
Cornelian law, ‘de Sicariis, being extended to persons who 
administer Pityocampa.” Again, Kirby and Spence, ‘I. E.’ 
vol. il, p. 22: “ Equally amusing is the progress of another 
moth, the Pityocampa, before noticed. They march together 
from their common citadel, consisting of pine leaves united 
and interwoven with silk which they spin, in a single line, 
thus forming a series of living wreaths, which change their 
shape every moment: all move with a uniform pace, no one 
pressing too forward, or loitering behind; when one stops, all 
stop, each defiling in exact military order.” And Réaumur 
suggests that the singular anal patch of scales, resembling 
those of the wings, but considerably larger, which is found in 
the female of Cnethocampa pityocampa, is destined for the 
purpose of covering her eggs. 5. Stephens, in his ‘ Illustra- 
tions of British Entomology, Haustellata, vol. ii. p. 48, has 
described Cnethocampa pityocampa as a British insect, on 
the authority of a stunted specimen in the British Museum, 
said to have been taken in Devonshire by the late Dr. Leach. 
I ought to add that the account given by Mouffet in 1634, to 
which I have referred above, is well worth an attentive 
perusal, not only as a specimen of minute and accurate 
description, but also as showing how ably and elegantly the 
Latin language was employed in Natural History a century 
before the invention of what is called the “language of 
Science.”—Edward Newman.} 
Swarming of a Brood of Winged Ants.—On the afternoon 
of October 6th, at about 4 P.M., we were attracted to a pait 
of the large yard surrounding our home by a multitude of 
