NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 189 



from the same place bad been sent to Mr. Birchall, who gave them 

 the name " var. hibernica," and figured them as such. A very hand- 

 some series were sent to the late Henry Doubleday, who was much 

 delighted with the specimens, and wrote saying he had never seen 

 their equals for size and brilliance of colouring. Unfortunately of late 

 years M. aurinia seems to have quite forsaken our bog. — Frances J. 

 Battersby ; Cromlyn, Rathowen, Co. Westmeath, May 29th, 1903. 



The Name Micropyga. — I am much obliged to Mr. Cockerell for 

 drawing my attention to the above generic name having been used 

 previously, and I quite agree with him that such a mistake is the 

 outcome of gross carelessness. I am, however, not quite so bad in 

 regard of "taking not the slightest trouble," as Mr. Cockerell assumes ; 

 on the contrary, I take every trouble, and in this instance must have 

 forgotten to consult the Zoological Index, although I was under the 

 impression that I did consult it. As my mistake in using a generic 

 name already employed is, I hope, the only instance during thirty 

 years of entomological work, I trust that my crime will be included 

 charitably under the heading of human fallibility which I have, un- 

 fortunately, in common with other authors too numerous to mention 

 here. — M. Jacoby. 



AcRONYCTA ALNi IN NoRwicH. — In September, 1902, one of my 

 cathedral choristers gave me a full-fed larva of Acronycta alni, which 

 he had picked up in his garden. Its hair-like appendages were all 

 broken off, and I found that it had an external parasite in one of the 

 interstices of the segments. Though I believed it to be a hopeless 

 • case, I extracted the parasite with care, and laid it on some fine 

 moistened soil in a tin box. The larva lost one large drop of green 

 fluid, and appeared very weak. It, however, spun a little silk on the 

 soil, and in a day or two seemed to have regained strength sufficient 

 to turn from side to side in the accustomed manner of larvae about to 

 pupate. Though I still had but slender hopes of rearing it, I was 

 pleasantly surprised in a week's time to find the skin cast, and a 

 perfect pupa formed. This I kept through the winter in an outhouse, 

 transferring it to the warmer climate of a kitchen cupboard at the 

 beginning of April, 1903. The pupa was alive and well, and on 

 May 18th it exceeded my highest aspirations by emerging into a 

 perfectly formed full-sized male, the operation upon the larva not 

 having impaired it in any way. The well-known frailty of larv® in 

 general, and the almost invariable result of a wound proving fatal, 

 make this very interesting. — (Rev.) A. Miles Moss; June 13th, 

 1903. 



On Rearing Ennomos fuscantaria. — When working the electric 

 lights for moths on the night of October 8th, 1900, I came across a 

 battered female of the above species resting on the pavement at the 

 foot of one of the lamps. The species is more or less common every 

 year at Chester, and it follows the rule set by others, since the indivi- 

 duals attracted by the lamps are chiefly males. The female referred 

 to was full of eggs, and consequently welcome, as I had long wished 

 to rear the caterpillar and observe its habits. The eggs, of which there 

 were more than a hundred, resembled miniature bricks in shape. 



