1887.] 135 



Sonchus arvensis. On mentioning this to Mr. Warren, he was able to tell rue that 

 if the larva fed on this plant it would be found living underground in a silken tube 

 and gnawing the roots externally. On June 29th and July 1st last I had the 

 pleasure of proving this to be the case, by finding the larvse feeding not only on the 

 roots of the Sonchus, but also on those of Taraxacum officinale, between Shoreham 

 and Brighton, as well as of taking both pupae and imagines. 



The larva is about 16 mm. long, thin rather than stout ; head small, reddish- 

 brown, mouth parts darker ; body yellowish-white, corselet pale ochreous, pulsating 

 vessel showing as a narrow darker doi'sal line, warts small and very inconspicuous, 

 each bearing a very short, fine, dark bristle ; legs yellow ; ventral area paler, claspers 

 concolorous with it. 



The larva crawls quickly, wriggling sharply backwards when disturbed. It 

 pupates just below the sui-face of the shingle, spinning a few small pebbles firmly 

 together, and making between them a tough, white, fusiform cocoon twice as long as 

 the pupa. The latter is active, not remarkable in shape, light red in colour ; the 

 abdominal segments furnished dorsally with two rows each of short teeth, those of 

 the first row being longer than those of the second. — Id. : September 37'd, 1887. 



Note on the food plant oy Depressaria badiella, Hb. — There is in vol. xxi of 

 this Magazine, p. 3, an account of the larva of this species as occurring on Fresh- 

 water Down under leaves of Sypocharis radicata from the pen of the late Mr. 

 Buckler. As every one may not have on his lawn enough of this troublesome weed 

 on which to rear his series of the moth (I hope it is nearly exterminated on mine), 

 it is perhaps worth recording that when working for larvse of Euchromia purpurana 

 I found those of the Depressaria feeding not only on Hypochceris, but also on Sonchus 

 arvensis and vulgaris, on Taraxacum, and on other plants of the natural Order 

 CompositoB. — Id. 



Note on the food plants of Tortrix dumetana, Tr. ; the record of a disappoint- 

 ment. — Early in June last I found on our Downs a Tortrix or Depressaria larva (to 

 my eyes many of the larvse of these genera are much alike), light and dark green in 

 stripes, feeding on Centaurea scabiosa. Hurrah ! thought I, here is the larva I 

 have been looking for these many years, Depressaria pallorella. I went on picking 

 away at the tubularly-rolled leaves, most of the Depressaria-\\ke tubes being empty. 

 Presently tubes and larvse turned up on Centaurea nigra, Knautia arvensis, Malva 

 sylvestris, and other plants.' Hurrah again ! unrecorded habit of a Depressaria — 

 begins life by feeding on one plant, and goes in for a change of diet as it grows 

 older ; must make a note of this for the Ent. Mo. Mag. My wife collected the 

 pupse for me, so the- blunder was not found out then. My disgust may be imagined 

 when in August a series of Tortrix dumetana came out, and found me without a 

 description of what I had thought to have been a larva well known to evei-y collector 

 of Micro-Lepidoptera but myself. — Id. : September hfh, 1887. 



Cosmopteryx Schmidiella in the Isle of Purbeck. — I have much pleasure in 

 recording the occurrence of this interesting species in the Isle of Purbeck, where 

 lately, by a most lucky chance, I happened to meet with the larva. At the beginning 

 of the present month I received from Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher, who added the insect 

 to the British list in the autumn of last year {vide Ent. Mo. Mag., xxiii, p. Ill), a 



