18 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



conquer, and suck the juices of larvae many times bigger than themselves? 

 I was the more struck by this procedure on their part as the antiqua larva 

 is supposed to be a distasteful morsel to birds and other predatory creatures, 

 owing to the barbed hairs with which it is so abundantly furnished. I also, 

 on one occasion, observed a quarter-grown antiqua larva hanging from 

 the same arbour by a long silken thread, up which it was laboriously 

 climbing at the rate of about two feet per hour; this it did by rolling the 

 silk into a ball with its abdominal feet, I never before saw a larva of this 

 species hanging by a silken thread, though I should not be astonished if 

 they had the power to produce them, seeing that they weave a silken pupa- 

 case. The other larvae which were conspicuous by their numbers were those 

 of various Noctuae, and of Spilosoma menthastri, of which there are always 

 a few in the garden. Larvae of Rhopalocera were much less abundant than 

 usual. Although I worked diligently, I have been able to procure scarcely 

 any imagines except those of Tortrices, which were fairly abundant. — 

 E. W. Carlier ; 36, London Street, Edinburgh, Oct. 18, 1890. 



LaRV^ of EpHESTIA SP. ? FEEBING ON CoRK-PACKING IN GrAPE- 



CASKS. — Some six or more years ago I found in some Almeria grape-casks 

 a number of larvae feeding on the cork-dust used in packing. They were 

 j)laced aside, and forgotten. Some months later, looking into the box in 

 which the larvae had been placed, some dead moths were found; so far as 

 I am able to remember, they were of a darker grey than Ephestia 

 cahir'Uella [jpassulella), and with more distinct transverse lines. Until a 

 few days ago I had not again met with the larvae ; and now I have about a 

 dozen before me, from which I have drawn the following description : — 

 Larva: Three-quarters of an inch in length, pink or whitish pink (the 

 mature larva more piuk than that of E. cahir'Uella), with a few whitish 

 hairs ; head horn colour ; mandibles darker ; frontal plate paler, the basal 

 half darker in some examples. Living in cocoons of cork-dust, loose, or 

 attached to the sides of the cask. The larva of E. caluritella forms silk- 

 lined passages through dried currants, and may be found in almost any 

 case of them ; there appears to be a constant succession of broods 

 throughout the year. They are flying at the present time in our stores, 

 but are most numerous in the summer mouths. In the cases with the 

 larvae may sometimes be found the cocoons of a small black ichneumon. 

 I may add that I obtained a very pretty ichneumon from the first lot of the 

 larva now described. — W. T. Pearce ; lOi, Mayfield Road, Seafield, 

 Gosport, November 24, 1890. 



Phalera bucephala LARViE FEEDING ON COMMON Laurel. — Several 

 records have been made during the past year of larvae feeding on the 

 common laurel (Cerasus laurocerasus). I can add to the list Phalera 

 bucephala. A colony of these larvae, about three-fourths grown, I observed 

 feeding on the above-named plant in July last, at Bickleigh, South Devon. 

 The shrubs were forming a fence to the station-master's garden, which is 

 situated close to the railway station. — G. C. Bignell.; Stonehouse, 

 Plymouth. 



The Cheshire Plague of Caterpillars. — It would appear from 

 Mr. Arkle's remarks (Entom. xxiii. 293) that Cheshire, during the present 

 year, has been almost free from the attacks of "caterpillars," for he states 

 (l. c.) " not merely from personal observation, but from exhaustive enquiry. 



