1898.] 115 



in their capture. He says that during January and February they were only to be 

 met with in the dung quite at the bottom of the Oeotrupes holes, but towards the 

 latter part of March they " simply swarmed " in cow-dung on the top of the ground ; 

 and that although he dug out and carefully examined a large quantity of burrows, 

 he was unable then to discover any beetles in the dung carried down by the Geo- 

 trupes as before. I noticed that the females amongst those sent me, taken when the 

 beetles were " swarming " above ground, were evidently about to lay their eggs. — 

 E. J. BuEGESS Sopp, Saxholme, Hoylake : April, 1896. 



Some recent captures of Lepidoptera around Norwich. — Limacodes testudo. — l 

 bred a specimen on June 28th from a larva which I beat out of a beech tree at 

 Horsford in the previous autumn. I think that this is new to the Norfolk list. I 

 visited the same locality last September, and got some more larvae, from which I have 

 six pupae. 



Orgyia gonostigma. — On August 21st the larvae were rather common on sallow 

 at Ranworth. O.fascelina. — I visited Burgh Castle on September 14th, and found 

 the young larvae not uncommonly upon the sallows there. At the same time I met 

 with a pupa of Plusia festuccB, and also a larva of Lagiocampa ruhi on Poa aquatica 

 growing in a ditch. I had previously only seen this last species in the very driest 

 situations. 



Eriogaster lanestris. — Larvae were common in June in the St. Faith's district, 

 and I have bred a nice series. In two instances two larvae spun up in the same 

 cocoon, but no moths have emerged from these double cocoons. 



Staur opus fag i. — On June 7th I took one at rest on a beech trunk at Stratton 

 Strawless. I beat out a larva a few years ago from beech in the same neighbourhood, 

 but it was ichneumoned. I have seen a fine black example of the moth taken in 

 1896 at the Carrow electric lights. 



Dicranura vinula was very common round Norwich last year ; I turned out 

 about 200 young larvae on the poplar bushes in my garden. They did well for about 

 ten days, when they were discovered by the sparrows, who cleaned them all off one 

 morning. I have heard that sparrows will not eat caterpillars, but they certainly 

 ate these ! D. bifida.— On June 19th, by searching aspen, I obtained twelve eggs 

 of this species, eleven of them were laid on the under-side of the leaves. Witli 

 them were young larvae of Pterostoma palpina and Notodonta ziczac, of which last 

 several produced moths in August. 



Notodonta trepida.— On June 12th I noticed at Horsford a patch of conspicuous 

 white eggs on the under-side of a branch of an oak near the trunk. Thpy were 

 empty, but by searching I obtained a number of the young larvae, which turned out 

 to be this species. Thirteen of them are now pupae. N. chaonia. — On July 10th I 

 beat a larva from oak at Drayton ; in the previous year I met with a moth of this 

 species at Howe. N. cuculUna. — On August 2nd I beat four larvae out of maple at 

 Runton, and on August 14th found another at Arminghall. 



(I think that Dicranura bicuspis should be included in the Norfolk list, since 

 Mr. F. Norgate recorded in the " Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Natu- 

 ralists' Society," 1881-2, the capture of two larvae at Cavfston). 



Boarmia rhomboidaria. — On June 24th I met with an example quite black in 

 colour in Norwich. — H. J. Thouless, 48, Grove Avenue, Ipswich Road, Norwich: 

 April, 1898. 



