177 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



The Pupal Habits of Cossus ligniperda. — lu the autumn of 

 1896, the larvae of C. ligniperda were very plentiful near Lewes, 

 Susses. I saw many full-fed examples crawling about much in the 

 same way as Phalmra bucephala does ; evidently, therefore, these larvte 

 did not remain in their larval quarters, but sought others for pupating. 

 I placed one enormous larva in a small cage, where it soon established 

 itself in a corner, gnawed a considerable hole in the hard deal, and 

 spun its cocoon. It emerged in due time, and is now in my collection. 

 The larva cage shows a deep hole where the wood was gnawed away. — 

 F. M. A. MacKinnon ; Bindeld Lodge, Walton-on-Thames, April 24th. 



Rhynchota Genera, &c. — I shall be greatly indebted to anyone 

 possessing the following works who will furnish me with a list of the 

 genera, &c., of Rhynchota contained therein : Hahn's Icon. Mon. Cimic. 

 1825 (?), and Fieber's paper in Weitenweber's Beytriige, 1836. — G. W. 

 KiRKALDY ; Wimbledon. 



OviPosiTioN OF GoNOPTERYX RHAMNi. — Tliis moriiing I have been 

 watching a specimen of Gonopteryx rhamni while she was busily 

 engaged in laying eggs on the young leaves of a shrub of buckthorn. 

 Newman, I see, says " the eggs are laid singly," but this specimen on 

 one occasion laid eight close together, though three seemed to be the 

 favourite number ; she also laid a few isolated ones. The plant on 

 which she deposited them seemed to be the only buckthorn in the 

 neighbourhood ; every now and then she would leave it and flit up 

 and down the lane, apparently in search of another bush, but each 

 time she returned and renewed operations on the same plant. How 

 many eggs she laid altogether I do not know, but the number must 

 have been something very considerable. — D. P. Turner; Sutton, 

 Surrey, May 5th, 1900. 



Aberration of Vanessa urtic^. — I have in my cabinet an exactly 

 similar aberration to the beautifully coloured figure of a specimen from 

 Mr. Farn's collection, given in the 'Entomologist' for April last (pi. 

 iii., fig. 1). My own insect was taken on the ceiling of a public-house 

 at Midhurst, Hants, on July 12th, 1896.— Joseph Anderson ; Chichester. 



"-Photo -Micrography for Entomology." — We have been favoured 

 with a reprint of an article bearing the foregoing title. It is by Mr. 

 F. N. Clark, and was originally published in the ' Annual of Microscopy ' 

 for 1899. A finely executed plate and two figures in the text, repre- 

 senting lepidopterous ova and structural details of insects, afford proof 

 of the excellent results that can be obtained by a careful manipulator. 

 The instructions are lucid and thoroughly practical. In his opening 

 remarks Mr. Clark says: — "I am frequently at a loss to understand 

 why photography is not utilized to a greater extent than at present in 

 the illustration of works on natural history. This applies particularly 

 to entomology, a subject that lends itself so admirably to the repro- 

 duction and enlargement of minute objects by aid of the camera. 

 Some years ago, when photo-process work was in its infancy, the low 

 standard of quality was no doubt responsible for a good deal of short- 

 BNTOM. — JUNE, 1900. Q 



