276 | May, 
A new Moth-trap, without the aid of light.—Being in the country some years 
since, I happened to see some bottles, containing beer and sugar, hung up against 
fruit-trees to catch wasps. Having obtained the gardener’s permission to break 
one, in order to see if it contained any moths, I found several, including some 
species not in my collection, but all spoiled through being saturated with the 
mixture. Some time after, it occurred to me that the trap of which a diagram is 
given would be useful for catching moths without spoiling them. 
A.A: a round tin box open at the 
Renan ma As RN y ; reps but closed at ai bottom ; ck 
ORY X a diameter of 6 inches, and being 10 
inches long. B: a cone made of per- 
forated zinc, about 6 inches long, 
fitting closely to the sides of the tin 
box at the top, and terminating in a 
point, C, where there is a hole one 
inchin diameter. D: another piece of 
perforated zine fitting exactly against 
the sides, and resting on four small 
pieces of tin (E.H.), to prevent it 
from falling to the bottom. F: a 
piece of flannel, saturated with sugar 
’ 
and rum. 
If this be placed in any open place at dusk, I am quite satisfied the entomolo- 
gist will find it repay him. I shall be happy to procure one for any gentleman 
who may require it. J should think the expense of making could not exceed four 
shillings,—C. A. Saaw, 7, Bloomfield Terrace, Harrow Road, W., April, 1871. 
On the hybernation of tree-feeding Lepidopterous larve.—Several of my corres- 
pondents have mentioned to me the difficulty they experience in rearing hybernating 
larvee of the tree-feeding species, more especially of those which feed on oak. 
Usually, these larvae appear to do pretty well until about the beginning of 
March, they then begin to wander about, apparently in search of food, and as it is 
usually difficult to obtain food for them so early in the season, they very soon 
shrivel and die. 
Now, from my own experience, I have arrived at the conclusion that tree- 
feeding larvz begin to feed very early in the year—probably as early as the middle 
of February, if the weather be mild—and that they manage to live and thrive upon 
the buds and tender bark of their respective food plants long before the young 
leaves begin to expand. 
I have at the present time a number of B. roboraria larvee feeding in this way, 
some of which, confined in a muslin sleeve on a growing tree have done very well, 
while others that I kept until very recently in a breeding cage upon the twigs upon 
which they hybernated, were beginning to decrease in number rapidly until I sup- 
plied them with fresh twigs, upon which they are now operating to their manifest 
advantage. I have often wondered why larve that are so small at the time of 
their hybernation should be so large as soon as the buds begin to burst, and this 
appears to settle the difficulty. 
