194 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the insect were almost exactly like those given off by hydrochloric acid. To 

 what practical use this insect can apply this protective agent is somewhat a 

 mystery, as it can have but few, if any, enemies in our cellars, or such 

 places as it is known to frequent. The same may be said of Blaps mucro- 

 nata, which in like manner is said to produce an odour singularly un- 

 pleasant. This latter insect occurs pretty freely with us, but, although I 

 have handled many specimens, I have never yet perceived any odour. I 

 may here add that Carahus granulatus has the power of emitting a very 

 strong fluid. I was holding one in my hand the other day when it ejected 

 some in my face, producing a most intense burning pain ; this was quickly 

 removed by the application of cold water. These facts, although new to 

 me, may be old to many, but some may not have heard of them, and be 

 interested. — R. Newstead ; Grosvenor Museum, Chester. 



Plusia moneta in Britain, 1891. — I had the good fortune to capture, 

 at hght, on the evening of July 11th, the sixth British specimen of Plusia 

 moneta, Fab. It is a fine specimen in perfect condition, rather larger than 

 that figured in the 'Entomologist' for last September (xxiii. pi. iii. fig. 6). 

 Its occurrence so far inland as the Guildford district in 1891 points to its 

 having established itself as a British species. It is an interesting addition 

 to our fauna, not only on account of its beauty, but because these records 

 imply the extension of the range of the species into the north-western 

 portion of the palsearctic region. I quote Staudinger's * Catalogue ' on the 

 subject of the distribution of another eastern species — Plusia consoxia, F. 

 — for comparison with that of P. moneta : — " P. consona, Fabr. Sax. ; 

 Austr. Hung.; Bulg. ; Ross. m. or.; ? Parisii (1)." In the Parisian 

 example quoted we see the same tendency to migration in a westerly 

 direction. " Plusia illustris, Fabr. Germ. m. (c. occ.) ; Helv. ; Gal. 

 m. or.; Ped. ; Hung.: Corcyra; Ural." Here we have another eastern 

 species extending into Western Germany. Staudinger does not give 

 " Angl.," but Stainton's ' Manual ' states that it has occurred on Salisbury 

 Plain. The distribution of Plusia modesta, Hb., is much the same as 

 that of P. bractea, Fabr., but P. modesta has never been recorded in Britain, 

 though it occurs as far west as Paris. May we not hope, considering the 

 migratory character of the genus, that P. consona and modesta may some 

 day be added to, and P. illustris re-instated in, the list of British Lepi- 

 doptera ? I shall have the specimen by me to show to anyone who may 

 wish to see it for the next six weeks ; after that it will be in the collection 

 of Mr. Bernard Crocker, of Plymouth. — Henry C. Lang ; Rose Hill, 

 Albury, Guildford. 



LARViE OP EUBOLIA LIMITATA (mENSURARIA) AND PlTJSIA PULCHRINA. — 



Book after book one takes up, and the larvae of these common moths are 

 dismissed as rather undiscovered things. Here is an opportunity for some 

 young entomologist ! Beat nettles into a newspaper at the end of May and 

 the beginning of June. It is worth while. You will come across larvse of 

 good moths, particularly of the Plusia family ; and a bred moth, even if it 

 be common, is often worth any number of netted ones. There will also fall 

 to your share a pea-green, very un-Geometer-like, caterpillar, with a humped 

 sort of back, and a whitish yellowish line along each side. It looks far 

 more like a Noctua, but it is the larva of E. limitata. It spins a whitish 

 silken cocoon among the nettle leaves, and is easily reared. I beat lots of 

 nettles this season, in the hope of being able to record an accurate descrip- 

 tion (the above is from memory), but I started too late (June 13th), and did 



