220 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



only once observed the former in the imago stage, and the only 

 imagines I have seen of the latter were those I bred. One 

 may thus easily understand how the species of this genus 

 are generally considered rare until their life-histor}^ is known, 

 and special search made for the larva or pupa. I have taken 

 several larvfe and i^upae of Cerura furcula and C. bifida, but have 

 not met with Dicranura rinula in any stage. I beat a single 

 larva of Stauropus fcu/i at West Stow, in the same locality where 

 Mr. Wratislaw obtained it forty years ago, but the insect must 

 be very rare in West Suffolk. 



Several Notodontidfe occur, the best being perhaps Pheosia 

 dictceoides. Every year I obtain a few pupae of Palimpsest'is 

 octofiesinia ; on one occasion I found five pupae at a single Lom- 

 bardy poplar, but usually I get only three or four each season. 

 The absence of Cosmotriche jjotatorin is somewhat remarkable ; I 

 have not once come across the conspicuous larva of this usually 

 common insect. I obtained, by beating, a few larvae of Hijlophila 

 prasinana and //. bicolorana, and duly bred specimens. 



Many of the trees in this neighbourhood show signs of the 

 ravages of Cossus liffniperda, but the imago is difficult enough 

 to obtain, and the only specimen 1 have added to my collection 

 came to light in the house of a relative. I have noticed that 

 trees that have been struck by lightning are frequently attacked, 

 and almost invariably on the side of the damage. I have only 

 once come across the imago of Zeuzera pyrina, but on several 

 occasions, when investigating a branch that showed the working 

 of a larva probably belonging to this species, I have found that 

 a woodpecker had been before me. 



Of the less common Noctuidae, in addition to such local species 

 as Emmelia trahealis, I obtained the following : — Craniophora 

 ligustri, bred and taken at sugar; Leiicania straminea, common 

 in the larval stage at Ampton ; Nonagria dissoluta and var. 

 ariindineta, both forms bred ; Noctua ditrapezium* four at sugar 

 and one at light ; Xanthia citrapo, common in the larval stage ; 

 X. aurago, one bred from a larva beaten at Ampton. I found 

 larvae and pupae of Hydroecia micacea common in dock roots, but 

 professional collectors, in the shape of moles, had in many cases 

 been before me, and I found it useless to investigate any root, 

 even if honeycombed with the work of the larva, when the ground 

 near it showed signs of the recent work of a mole. 



I obtained a number of Geometridae, including of course the 

 local Acidalia rubiginata, Anticlea berberata, and A. sinuata, &c. 

 Perhaps the best insect of this family was a single specimen of 

 Eupithecia irriguata, at rest on an oak-trunk. Other Eupithecids 

 were E. lariceata, E. tenuiata, and E. dodoneata. Of the last 

 species I got several pupae under hawthorn bark, and following 

 up the clue, beat larvae from the same trees later on. From 

 remarks in Barrett's book I rather expected to find the larva on 



