ON BREEDING DREPANA HARPAGULA. 283 



ally in pupa a])out three weeks before the full-tVd larva can le beaten 

 m the woods. 



Although the larva of />. Iiaijnuiiila feeds quite exposed, it does not 

 seem to ])e subject to the attacks of insect foes. I have never bred a 

 parasite from captured larvae, and believe this experience can be con- 

 firmed by that of Messrs. Grigg, Prideaux, Bartlett, and others. 



The full-fed larva now begins to join together two points on the 

 upper surface of a leaf with a thick band of silken cords ; then at a dis- 

 tance of rather more than a quarter of an inch it affixes another band of 

 silk parallel to the first. Using them as a basis it rolls the leaf together 

 into a neat funnel closed at the lower end ; lastly it fills the upper end 

 with a brownish web of silk, having several round apertures, through 

 which the head of the pupa may be seen. The pupa is at first light 

 brown and smooth, but after about twenty-four hours becomes thickly 

 covered with a white powder, probably exuded from its pores in a liquid 

 state. As this powder appears to be quite insoluble in water, it may 

 well be that its function is to protect the pupa from damp during the 

 long months of winter, when it is lying in its cocoon amongst the dead 

 leaves at the foot of the lime-trees. It is certainly a delicate species, 

 easily killed or crippled by cold, as on one occasion I lost nearly a 

 whole brood in the pupa state in consequence of cold weather setting 

 in just as the moths were developing. 



The moth usually emerges fi'om its cocoon in the morning, after 

 about eight or nine o'clock. It rests with its wings outspread with the 

 forewings slightly covering the hindwings. There is no record of a 

 second brood of the moth in the English locality, but on October, 16th, 

 1898, I bred a small and rather dark-coloured male, no doubt owing to 

 some unusually warm weather Avhich occurred during that autumn. 



Notes on the Habits of the larvae of Eriogaster lanestris. 



By A. IIUSSELL, F.E.S. 

 I took a nest of the larvtv of this species at Polegate junction on 

 May 21st last, and the few notes I made during the successful rearing of 

 the larva^ may prove of interest to some at least of my fellow entomo- 

 logists. The nest Avas found in an exposed position on the branch of 

 a small hawthorn tree growing on the bank of a disused railway siding. 

 The web of the nest was compactly and evenly woven. It was about 

 six inches in length, and was fastened to projecting thorns and to the 

 end of the branch. Ingress to and egress from the interior was through 

 one small opening only. A single larva was visible on the exterior, 

 the remainder, afterwards ascertained to be about 100 in number, being 

 snugly ensconced within. On returning home the following day the 

 nest was fastened to the branch of a large hawthorn tree growing in 

 my garden, and covered with a good sized gauze net, through an open- 

 ing in the back of which the larva' were afterwards supplied daily with 

 increasing (pumtities of their food-plant. The larva' when taken were 

 three-(iuarters of an inch in length, and had apparently imdergone at 

 least one moult. Upon being placed upon the hawthorn tree they con- 

 structed another and a larger nest, enclosing the old within the new. 

 The habits of the larva^ were most interesting to watch. Their mode 

 of feeding was curious ; they seemed to make short and hasty snatches 

 at their food-i)lant, wasting a considerable portion of it in doing so. 



