248 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Note on the Labva of Dicranura vinula. — On May 15th I found 

 a larva of Dicranura vinula. It was uniformly black. It changed its skin 

 on May 21st, June 2nd, June 11th, June 20th, and spun up on July 2nd. 

 Another, also found in the black stage, on June 6th, changed its skin on 

 June 8th, June 22nd, July 1st, and spun up on July 9th. Is this difference 

 in the number of skins sexual, or is it because the second one was fed 

 after July Ist on poplar ? — D. P. Turner ; 14, Havelock Road, Tonbridge, 

 July 18, 1893. 



Larv^ of Lyc^na arion, L., on Origanum vulgare. — I found ten 

 larvae of LyccBna arion, on the 1st ult., and another caterpillar on the 4th 

 inst., in the Vallon des Fleurs, Nice. They measured one-twelfth of an 

 inch each, and were found on Origanum vulgare (marjoram). This is, 

 I believe, a new food-plant for the species, as it is always stated as living 

 on Thymus serpyllum (wild thyme), which, it is interesting to note, is 

 botanically allied to Origanum. I have taken besides (June 27th to 

 July 1st) seventeen imagines of L. arion. — F. Bromilow; Nice, France, 

 July 7, 1893. 



On breeding Agrotis rip^. — Having had some experience in breeding 

 this species, I am pleased to answer my friend Mr. Graves' enquiry (ante, 

 p. 220). After several unsuccessful attempts to rear A. ripcB from the 

 larva, I procured a new earthenware drain-pipe, about three feet in length, 

 and filled it with sea-sand nearly to the top. My larvae were then placed 

 in this receptacle after my return to London in September, and I supplied 

 them with sliced carrot, of which they freely partook. They disappeared 

 about October, and reappeared about the middle of May, when they changed 

 to pupae in a slight cocoon just below the surface, from which the moths 

 emerged in about a fortnight's time. On examining my breeding apparatus, 

 I found they had been right down to the bottom of the sand, where they 

 probably hybernated. In this way I have reared imagines from larvae 

 collected at Tenby, Cumberland, and the Essex coast. The larva is, like 

 many others in confinement, a cannibal. — J. Jager; 180, Kensington Park 

 Road, Netting Hill, July, 1893. 



Note on Abraxas grossulariata.— From Mr. Bell-Marley's letter 

 {ante, p. 219), it seems that the larvae of A. grossulariata have been deserting 

 the currant and gooseberry bushes for Euonymus japonicus in England ; 

 they have done exactly the same thing in Jersey. In addition to my own 

 observations here, I have made several enquiries, and always with the same 

 result — namely, that the currant and gooseberry bushes are left almost 

 unharmed, while everywhere the evergreen shrubs are attacked ; and this 

 has occurred in all parts of the island. Several of these larvae were kept in 

 confinement, and currant-leaves placed with the evergreen. They took no 

 notice of the currant, but when the Euonymus was removed they ate the 

 Ribes, although reluctantly, and when the Euonymus was returned they 

 instantly deserted the currant-leaves for it. Gooseberry-leaves were then 

 tried instead of currant-leaves, with a like result. Last year Abraxas 

 grossulariata did a great deal of damage to the currant and gooseberry 

 bushes, and also attacked Euonymus japonicus, but very rarely. I should 

 be glad if anyone would explain this, to me, strange desertion of their 

 usual food-plant by these larvae. — Stanley Guiton; 31, Bath Street, 

 St. Heliers, Jersey, July 8, 1893. 



