NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 299 



Very bad condition. On Feb. 26th, 1892, I caught good specimens of 

 Spilothyrus alcece ; they were very plentifal along the banks of rivulets. A 

 list of my captures of butterflies, and dates of their first appearances last 

 year, gives the following : — Insularis (var.), Feb. 26th. Spilothyrus alcem, 

 Feb. 26th. Pieris brassicce, March 11th. P. podallrius, Tkecla ruhi, 

 Lihythea celtis, Zegris eup)heme, April 4th. Pieris chloridice, March 3rd. 

 P. machaon, April 7th. Leucophasia sinapis, April 6th. Euchlo'e carda- 

 mines, May 3rd. Thais nmiina, May 4th. Limenitis Camilla, May 6th. 

 Euchlo'e tar/is, E. helemia, May 8th. Lyccena bellargus, April 20th. Hes- 

 peria nostrodamus, May 7th. Parnassius apollo, May 22nd. Of the 

 following I kept no date of their capture : — Colias edusa and var. helice, C. 

 hyale, Gonepteryx rhamni, G. cleopatra, Polyommatus j^hlceas, Lyccena 

 bcetica, L. cegon, L. argus, L. orion, L. astrarche, L. argiolus, Vanessa egea, 

 V. c-album, V. urticcc var. ichnusa, V. polychloros, V. io, V. atalanta, V. 

 cardui, Parage egeria var. egerides, SyricJithus alveus. I think I have over 

 eighty different sorts of butterflies captured in Corsica, and I believe 

 that is a larger number than is to be found in Great Britain. — George H. 

 Coleby; Diekirch, Luxemburg, Sept. 10, 1893. 



Note on Zonosoma punctaria. — Last year I obtained about a hundred 

 ova from females of first brood ; most of the larvse pupated about mid- 

 summer, but about twelve fed very slowly, and pupated at the time when 

 the others were appearing in the perfect state ; these remained in the pupa 

 state throughout the winter, and emerged with the usual spring brood. 

 Among these pupge there were both the green and brown varieties. — P. T. 

 Lathy ; Bexley Heath, Sept. 30, 1893. 



Greasy Lepidoptera. — I have been for some time past experimenting 

 with^ether for the extraction of grease. This fluid, so far as I am aware, 

 has not hitherto been employed by entomologists for this particular purpose, 

 though its properties as a solvent of fats and oils are well known to 

 chemists ; indeed in a modified form (acetic ether) it is this medium by 

 means of which the epispastic principle of Cantharis vesicatoria is obtained. 

 My object in writing this is to say that my work has come to a standstill 

 for want of material, and to solicit the loan of very, vert greasy specimens 

 (saturated to the cilia if possible), for which I will cheerJuUy pay postage 

 both ways. — H. G. Knaggs; Camden Villa, Lennard Road, Folkestone. 



Sugar versus Honeydew. — In connection with this question (Entom. 

 274) T experienced a curious instance of the failure of artificial sweets 

 whilst " sugaring " on one of the Lancashire " mosses " last month. I had 

 sugared a number of trees on the edge of the " moss," but not a single 

 moth was attracted thereto. The rays of my lantern, however, happened 

 to fall on a conspicuous object on the flower of a species of rank grass that 

 grows on such places, and, pursuing my observations further over a larger 

 area, there, sure enough, were the moths feeding — each hanging on to a 

 single stalk and " guzzling " at the flower. But whether the flowers exuded 

 sweets or there was honeydew on them, I did not examine. True the 

 moths were only common things, — Xanthia fulvago [cerago), Hydrcecia 

 micacea, H. nictitans, Phlogophora meticulosa, &c., — but the fact remains 

 that they were on the grass and not on my sugar, although the latter was 

 within a few yards. And my sugaring mixture, too, is usually most suc- 

 cessful, and is admitted by my entomological friends to be particularly 

 attractive. — Geo. 0. Day; Parr's Bank House, Knutsford, Sept. 6, 1893, 



