290 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



The hind wings are light, but not unusually spotted. Since taking 

 the larva that produced this specimen, in the garden, I have found 

 about two dozen pupas, and quite two dozen larvse, now nearly all 

 pupated, hanging on various plants and on the fences particularly, 

 south side. I have been daily expecting some of the moths to emerge, 

 but they have not done so yet. though kept in a warm room. A. pos- 

 sulariata has had a remarkable life this year, as the mildness of the 

 fore part of the spring brought on some of the larvas very early, and 

 consequently there was a partial early emergence in June; then the wet 

 and cold set in and kept the rest emerging until very late. No doubt 

 the pupae and full-fed larvae now to be had are the progeny of the early 

 imagines. I took the last pupa, outdoors, on Oct. 22nd. It is worth 

 noticing that this second brood have fed on unusual plants and trees, 

 as the currant and gooseberry bushes were, in my absence, almost 

 stripped of their foliage" by the sawfly [Nematous ribesii). I have taken 

 the larvffi off plum-trees, apple, raspberry canes and strawberry, 

 though the greatest number were feeding or spun up on young shoots 

 of old black currant-bushes, which I had to cut down owing to another 

 great pest of this neighbourhood — the black currant mite or gall-fly. 

 —Ed. G. J. Sparke ; Tooting Bee Eoad, S.W., Oct. 23rd, 1903. 



[In a note dated Oct. 28th, Mr. Sparke writes : " Another A. 

 fjrossulariata emerged this afternoon about 3 o'clock." — Ed.] 



Yellow Colouring of Cocoon of Plusia moneta. — In reply to Mr. 

 Bird's note [ante, p. 242), I may state that I have tried the effect of 

 moisture on the cocoons of P. moneta, and with various results. In 

 two cases submersion had no apparent effect on the cocoons, while in 

 other cases the cocoons changed to yellow of various shades. Nearly 

 all these experiments were carried out with empty cocoons ; the two 

 which did not change colour, however, were white, and comparatively 

 fresh, but moths did not emerge from them owing to the specimens 

 dying after the pupae had been formed, but whether before or after 

 submersion I cannot say. Mr. F. M. B. Carr, of Salisbury, informs 

 me that he reared four larvae of P. moneta (from Northwood, Middlesex), 

 one cocoon of which is pure white, two dirty white, and one almost 

 entirely yellow. All these four larvae were kept in a glass-bottom box 

 about two inches in diameter and one and a-half inches deep, and the 

 cocoons were all spun on the side or top of the box. I shall feel 

 obliged if Mr. Bird will let us know how one of these cocoons obtained 

 more moisture than the others. Mr. E. M. Holmes, of Sevenoaks, wrote 

 me last August concerning P. moneta as follows : — " All my cocoons 

 this year were exceptionally pale, but five that spun up the first week 

 in June were absolutely white " (these, I understand, changed colour 

 after submersion in water). This fact would seem strange if the 

 presence of moisture caused the cocoons to change to yellow without 

 actual submersion, for we certainly have not had a dry spring this 

 year. Mrs. Holmes has obtained (by submersion) a change in the 

 colour of three-year-old cocoons. — Ralkigh S. Smallman ; Carlton 

 House, Heme Hill, S.E., Oct. 9th, 1908. 



Vespid^. — I am making a study of the above, and especially of 

 V. crabro (the hornet), but have experienced a great difficulty in 

 getting specimens of the species. Can any of your readers help me 



