874 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



invariably seems to produce three ecdyses in the larvae after the " black " 

 stage. White willow, white poplar, and sallow, produce, in most cases, 

 four ecdyses. With white willow, however, I have occasionally found five 

 ecdyses ; in one case (which turned out to be a somewhat rare variety) six. 

 White poplar sometimes produces three ecdyses. — W. H. Seyfang ; 

 St. Peter's College, Cambridge, August 15, 1893. 



SuGAE VERSUS HoNEYDEw. — In 1875, and again in 1876, I had 

 excellent opportunities for observing the nightly attendance of moths at 

 sugar and honeydew, and an account of these observations will be found in 

 the ' Entomologist ' for 1878 (xi. 271). In 1876, 902 specimens were 

 taken between July 14th and August 15th, and of these 61 were attracted 

 by the honeydew. Of the 476 specimens of Noctuse taken between July 9th 

 and August 28th in the previous year, only 96 were from honeydew. The 

 numbers were made up in the respective years as follows : — 



1876. 1876. 



Sugar. Honeydew. 



Calymnia diffinis 76 11 



Noctua rubi 68 5 



Calymnia pyralina 60 7 



Caradrina taraxaci 64 43 



Calymnia ajjinis 42 16 



Mania maura 34 3 



Cei'igo matura 32 



Caradrina alsines 14 6 



Tethea subtusa 4 



T. retusa 1 



Sugar. 



Caradrina taraxaci 40 



Calymnia diffinis 37 



Cerigo matura 24 



Calymnia pyralina 17 



Caradrina alsines 13 



Calymnia affinis 8 



Tethea subtusa 2 



T. retusa 



Triphana interjecta 



Honeydew. 

 27 



6 







9 



3 



2 

 14 



4 



2 



Besides the species enumerated above, a large number of commoner 

 ones also came to the sugar, but very few to the honeydew. Two or ihree 

 Geometrse visited the latter attraction, and Zanclognatha tarsipennalis, 

 Pyralis costalis, and P. glaucinalis were common at the sugar. This 

 year honeydew has been excessively abundant, but I cannot suppose that 

 the poor results which have attended sugaring expeditions are directly 

 attributable to this fact. I should say that the scarcity of moths at sugar 

 is not because honeydew proved more attractive, but rather because the 

 meteorological conditions favourable to aphides, enabling them to increase 

 and multiply prodigiously, have been to a greater or lesser extent injurious 

 to moths. It seems only reasonable to assume that to many species of 

 moths occurring in this country abnormal heat and drought are as 

 disastrous as exceptional cold and wet. The observations and opinions 

 of others relative to these matters would be exceedingly interesting. — 

 Richard South ; 12, Abbey Gardens, St. John's Wood. 



Pachetra leucoph^a in England. — A few years ago an entomo- 

 logical friend showed me a series of six specimens of the above insect, 

 which he had captured on the South Downs, pointing out the spot where 

 he had taken them on condition that I would not publish or otherwise 

 reveal the same. As, however, the locality is one from which this species 

 has been already recorded, nothing is lost to science by my compliance with 

 his wishes, and I only mention the above facts to disclaim any credit for 

 having made the discovery myself. My object in sending this note is to 

 point out that although 1 have collected this insect in the past, it has 

 hitherto occurred so sparingly that, until now, I had been unable to complete 



