206 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



front coxae closed, or very nearly closed behind. In sartor and sector 

 there is a distinct and rather wide gap between the epimeron and the 

 hind end of the prosternum, so that the acetabula are always open 

 behind.— C. J. G.] 



OviPOSiTiON OF Plusia moneta. — In reply to the Eev. W. 

 Claxton's query on p. 181, I may say that the moths of the first 

 brood (emerging about the end of June) deposit their ova on the 

 flowers and flower-stems, and amongst the buds and capsules, of 

 monkshood and DeliJhiniwn ; those of the second brood (emerging in 

 late August and September) probably oviposit on the seed-capsules or 

 on late flowers, if any. I cannot say from experience whether this is 

 so, but I have found very small larvae feeding on the seeds of monks- 

 hood in late September in my garden here, in which the moth occurs 

 commonly after Midsummer-day at the Delphinium flowers. The 

 larvae hybernate in the hollow stems of the plants near the surface of 

 the ground, and if these be removed in winter I presume no larvae 

 would appear in spring. To this I attribute the fact that in some 

 years my monkshood does not seem to be attacked, because I have 

 removed the old stems, whilst the Delphiniums, whose stems w^ere 

 only cut down to within six inches of the ground, have been badly 

 attacked. I should think it highly probable that the 3'oung larvae 

 would sometimes hybernate in the dead capsules, or even inside some 

 of the seeds, and that Mr. Claxton's larva was curled up inside a seed, 

 or at any rate was amongst the seeds when he got them, and so was on 

 the spot when the seeds germinated. It seems to me extremely un- 

 likely that the species would ever hybernate as an egg. I should like 

 to take this opportunity of thanking the few correspondents who were 

 good enough to respond to my request for records of this species in 

 May, 1911. — C. Nicholson ; Hale End, Chingford. 



In your last issue {antea, p. 181) the Eev. W. Claxton suggests 

 that the ova of Plusia moneta are laid " on the seed of the plant while 

 in the pod." Last night I watched a female ovipositing ; she laid 

 her egg on the unexpanded bud of a Delphinium flower. I have no 

 doubt that, like most Plusias, P. moneta passes the winter in the 

 larval stage, but I will try to watch this particular egg to note when 

 it hatches. — Percy C. Reid ; Feering Bury, Kelvedon, June 19th. 



Mr. Claxton's theory {antea, p. 181) that P. moneta lays its eggs 

 on the seeds of Delphinium while yet in the pod is extremely inte- 

 resting, but all the evidence at my disposal, though not conclusive, is 

 against it. In my garden there is a single clump of monkshood 

 (Aconitum), which comes up regularly year after year, and in due 

 course flowers, but to the best of my belief in the last twenty years, 

 and certainly in the last ten, it has never succeeded in setting any 

 seed, even in spite of attempts at artificial self-pollination. Never- 

 theless, from 1904 to 1907 the young larvae of P. moneta appeared in 

 the tips as soon as the shoots were an inch or two above ground. 

 The eggs that produced these could not have been laid on the seeds 

 of the plant, for there were no seeds, and no other plants of either 

 Aconitum or Delphinium in any of the neighbouring gardens. The old 

 stems were cut off and the ground dug over, even the tubers removed 

 in the autumn of the previous year ; consequently, if the eggs are 



