24 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



all came out on that and the following day. I have so far been 

 successful in rearing most of these. They varied considerably in size 

 from the first, and by the end of September ranged from one-half to 

 one inch in length, some of them apparently being at least a moult 

 behind others. The colour of the hair of those similarly advanced 

 also varied from light reddish to dark brown, the latter being by far 

 the commoner ; and it will be interesting to note whether the iraagos 

 will differ in the same way. Two spun up on Sept. 25th and 26th, 

 but the remaining caterpillars, thirty-four in number, continued to 

 feed until the end of October, and are now hybernating. The two that 

 pupated in September emerged on Oct. 23rd and 27th respectively, 

 but unfortunately were not a pair. They have been kept in a corner 

 of a room facing east, with the window generally open. — James 

 Douglas ; Sherborne. 



On the Habits of Macrothylacia (Bombyx) rubi. — In ' The Lepi- 



doptera of the British Islands,' Mr. Barrett says concerning the larvfe 

 of Macrothylacia {Bombi/x) rubi, "It feeds vigorously through the 

 summer, becoming full grown in the late autumn, when it reposes at 

 full length on any plant or on the ground in the sunshine." My 

 experience is that it never appears until after the sun has gone down. 

 There is a field near here where they are abundant, but although I 

 have searched, I have never found one in the sunshine ; but im- 

 mediately after the sun has gone down I could collect fifty or a hundred 

 with ease. I am only referring to the late autumn ; in the early 

 spring I have no doubt that they come out in the sunshine, but I have 

 not yet had an opportunity of finding this out. Mr. Newman says 

 that the hairs of the caterpillar are abundantly intermixed in the 

 cocoon. This also I have not found to be the case, although I must 

 confess that my experience of the cocoon is limited to three or four. — 

 L. M. Seth Smith; Alleyne, Caterham Valley, Surrey, Nov. 13th, 1901. 



CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 



Sphinx convolvuli in Dorsetshire. — During the month of Septem- 

 ber last I tooK twenty-nine S. convolvuli, flying about tobacco-flowers at 

 dusk ; they appeared each night the same length of time after the sun 

 had set, practically to a minute. Those taken at the beginning of the 

 month were much the larger, though not in such good condition. Two 

 females in this batch measured no less than 124 mm. and 127 mm. 

 respectively across the wings ; the largest male 113 mm. The extreme 

 given by Meyrick is 118 mm. Males were also much scarcer, number- 

 ing only six out of nineteen, while of ten last taken four were males. 

 These last were smaller, and in absolutely fresh condition ; the females 

 apparently barren, there being no difi'erence between them and the 

 males in the shape or size of the body, while there was a decided and 

 very apparent difference amongst the first lot. These data would 

 seem to point to the fact that the later specimens were English bred ; 

 and they may also go some way towards explaining why S. convolvuli 

 fails to become a permanent resident. It would be interesting to 



