214 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



many as five resting together on the same grass-head ; on this 

 occasion both sexes were about equal in number. — F. W. Frohawk ; 

 July, 1909. 



ACEONYGTA ACEEIS LaRV^ FEEDING ON PlUM. — In AugUSt last 



year I found four small larvse of A. aceris feeding on the foliage 

 of a plum-tree in the garden here. They were transferred to a 

 breeding-cage and supplied with twigs from the plum. Pupation 

 occurred in due course, and two male specimens emerged in late 

 June of the present year. These are perhaps rather small, but they 

 are certainly not less in size than some examples I have reared in 

 former years from larvae that had fed on sycamore. — Eichard South ; 

 96, Drakefield Road, Upper Tooting, S.W. 



Cidaria miata emerging in July. — A small batch of the ova of 

 this species were received from Burniston, Yorkshire, on April 25th 

 last. Larvae from these hatched out April 29th, fed well on sallow, 

 and by June 26th all had pupated. A male specimen emerged on 

 July 5th, followed by another the next day, and two examples of the 

 same sex on the 8th of the month. Between July 11th and 20th 

 two other males and seven females appeared. — Richard South. 



Insects in Sicily. — ^With the Editor's permission I should like 

 to thank my numerous entomological friends for their sympathy with 

 me in the sorrowful time of the earthquake at Messina, which 

 terrible event put a stop for some months to pleasant entomological 

 excursion^ in the country. The first months of the year proved 

 exceptionally wet, and as I had lost all my entomological apparatus, 

 it was Easter (April) before I could resume collecting. I was then 

 domiciled at Catania, and my first excursion was to the back of 

 Mount Etna, stopping at several towns on the return journey from 

 the mediteval town of Randazzo. A most interesting place for lovers 

 of the antique — not to say ignorant and backward. Situated 3000 

 or 4000 ft. above the sea-level, the climate somewhat resembles that 

 of England, and warm clothing was a necessity. Mount Etna rises 

 over 10,000 ft., with snow on the upper half, while the nearest moun- 

 tain to the west is less than 5000 ft., and is sown with corn to the 

 summit. Amongst the boulders separating the cornfields we found a 

 "tiger" caterpillar crawling about on the short grass, &c., very much 

 resembling that of A. fuliginosa, but with black bands. I collected a 

 dozen out of hundreds, and to my surprise I bred what I call the 

 " black burnet " moth — Syntomis ijliegea. This insect seems generally 

 distributed in Sicily ; the first specimens I came across were in the 

 plain of Catania, in May, almost on the sea level, and subsequently 

 I found it plentifully at Taormina and also at Messina, where it can 

 be picked off the flowers readily by its antennae, being one of tlie 

 most obtrusive of the Lepidoptera. The female readily deposits its 

 eggs loosely in a pill-box, and when I reached England on the 16th 

 of June I found that a batch of eggs laid the week before had just 

 hatched. The young caterpillars resemble those of Arctia villica (the 

 cream-spot tiger moth), and (imitation being the sincerest form of 

 flattery) I have, in my small way, imitated the entomologists who 

 are trying to re-introduce Ghrysophanus dispar, whom I wish success. 



