er^i 



Insects. 7S23 



The next plan T resorted to was to tale a lot of ragwort and plant it on bare parts 

 of the moss, giving it a good sprinkling with sugar, with a double dose of riini, 

 to counteract the opposition of the heath-bloom : this was ihe key to the business. I 

 soon had C. Haworthii by the score, Aparaea nictitans and Agrotis agathina every 

 night, and hundreds of other Noctufe and beetles in profusion. I killed a great num- 

 ber of the common species, because they ate the sugar oflF so fast; and it was the 

 means of bringing plenty of Carabus granulatus prowling about, dragging moths 

 away and seizing them when alive after being shook off the flowers. Frogs and toads 

 mounted the flowers to share in the feed. I was most surprised to tind Orgyia antiqua 

 a visitor ; it dropped down, when shook off, in the same manner as the Noctuae, until 

 I pinned it. Gortyna flavago, Plusia festucae and Heliothis peltigera were visitors. I 

 noticed one insect, namely, Luperina testacea, was feeding on reeds close by, along 

 with Nonagria fulva : neither of these species was tempted from its ordinary fare. I 

 also saw what I supposed to be glow-worms : I turned my lamp on, to show them to 

 a man that was with me, but none could I find, only Nebria running about : the Rev, 

 A. Matthews' article on the phosphorescent appearance of N. brevicoUis (Zool. 7803) 

 at once gave me a clew to my vanished luminaries of the night.— J. B. Hodgkinson ; 

 Penwortham Mill. 



Capture of Dasypolia Templi in Ireland. — As a worthy finish to my collecting in 

 Ireland, I have had the pleasure of taking, at the end of October, several fine speci- 

 mens of Dasypolia Temjdi on the coast near Dublin. — Charles G. Barrett ; Camelon, 

 near Falkirk, November 6, 1861. 



Description of the Larva of Aplecia tincta. — Falls off its food-plant, feigns death, 

 and rolls itself in a ring when touched or disturbed. Head small in proportion to the 

 body : body soft, fleshy, the divisions of the segments very distinctly marked by de- 

 pressed rings ; on the segments themselves are numerous depressions ; and along the 

 sides, in the region of the spiracles, are various conspicuous skin-folds. Head very 

 shining, testaceous-brown : body pale raw-sienna brown, irrorated with both white and 

 black markings, so small as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, and having 

 also a very inconspicuous double median dorsal stripe composed of black dots, the 

 1 intervening; very narrow space being nearly white ; the spiracles are black : the 

 legs and claspers of the same colour as the body. Feeds on Betula alba (birch), and 

 appeared nearly full grown at the end of October. I am indebted to Mr. G. Mawson 

 for specimens of this larva, which he bred from the egg. — Edward Newman. 



Orodesma apicina a Native of Honduras. — It is stated by Mr. Douglas (Zool. 7768) 

 that the only known specimens of Orodesma apicina have been captured in England. 

 I beg to stale that a specimen is in the Norrisian collection, with many other unde- 

 scribed Noctuaj taken by the late Mr. Haskine in Honduras. — Samuel Carter ; 20, 

 Lower\Mosley Street, Manchester, November 1, 1861. 



Economy of Achroia grisella. — Before I left home I had the pleasure of observing 

 this species under favourable circumstances. In June I obtained a number of hyber- 

 nated larvae, and placed them in a glass case. The way in which they formed gal- 

 leries was very interesting ; they worked under cover, spinning their web loosely and 

 then thrusting it forward. At the slightest disturbance they became perfectly motion- 

 less. In the beginning of July perfect insects began to make their appearance in my 

 case, and I went to the apiary from which I obtained the larvae, and found perfect 

 insects there in great abundance. They flutter much as bees do before the entrance 

 of the hive. The males are usually much smaller than the females. I shut up a male 



