92 ' [September, 



Where does Gonepteryx rhamni hibernate ? — Can any of your readers give me 

 an account from their personal experience of the situations in which Gonepteryx 

 rhamni hibernates in this country ? I am interested in the question of the protective 

 markings on the under-sides of butterflies' wings, and desire information about the 

 species which hibernate in this country. All the Vanessidce have dark coloured 

 under-sides which serve to conceal them in the crevices in which they hibernate. 

 G. rhamni, although the wings are strikingly like the green leaves of trees, appears 

 to be an insect unprotected during hibernation, owing to the absence of anything 

 like a green leaf during the winter. It is possible that in this case there is no hiber- 

 nation of the perfect insect, and it is simply a case of the retardation of the pupa, 

 so that the insects that we see on the warm days of winter or early spring, have 

 recently emerged. — Geo. H. Kenrick, Whetstone, Somerset Eoad, Edgbaston : 

 July 30th, 1888. 



Note on the larva of Antithesia ustulana, Haiv., = fidigana, Hub. — I am glad 

 to be able to give some account of the larval habits of Anthithesia ustulana, which 

 I think has generally been referred to as occurring amongst Stachys sylvatica, and, 

 until quite recently, has been considered identical with A. carbonana, Dbld., whose 

 larvae feed in the stems of Stachys palustris, in the autumn. For several years 

 ustulana has been common, at times, on a railway embankment down here, and lately 

 I had noticed that it was always confined to places where patches of bugle (Ajuga 

 reptans) were growing. Examining these plants last September I found young larvae 

 feeding in the root-stock just above the surface of the ground. They were of a dirty 

 white colour, and exceedingly small, remaining so throughout the winter. Towards 

 the middle of March they commenced feeding again, hollowing out the root-stock, 

 and mining up the stalks of the leaves, their previous colour then becoming tinged 

 with pale yellowish-green. At the end of May they were full-fed, and pupated in 

 various positions, some in the empty mines and others outside amongst the leaves. 

 The moths emerged the middle of June. As all the larvae were found in plants that 

 were protected by furze bushes, &c, it is probable that the eggs are deposited in the 

 seed heads ; the young larvae feeding down the stems to the root. There were no 

 traces of any in the plants growing in the open, where the stems would be destroyed 

 when the herbage is cut at midsummer. — Gr. W. Bird, Honor Oak Park, S.E. : 

 July 18th, 1888. 



Cratnbus ulce, Cocherell, = C. luteolellus, Clemens. — In the May number (vol. 

 xxiv, page 272) I described a supposed new Crambus as C. ulce. I sent the type to 

 Professor Fernald, who replies as follows : — 



" I rogret to say that Mr. Edwards has led you into re-describing an old and 

 well-known species of Crambus. It was first described by Clemens as C. luteolellus, 

 next Zeller described it as C. hemiochrellus, then Grrote described it as C. duplicatus, 

 afterwards I described it as C. zeelus, and now you have described it as C. ulce ! A 

 much described species ! ! — C. H. Fernald, Amherst, Mass : June 14th, 1888." 



No doubt Professor Eernald's dictum must bo taken as final on the subject, and 

 I need hardly say I am sorry to have been led into error so easily. — T. D. A. Cockerell, 

 Colorado : July, 1888. 



