2882 Crustacea, fyc. 



Note on the Kittiwick Crab. — The voracity of the common kittiwick crab is well 

 known, but I saw an instance of it yesterday which was new to me. In fishing for a 

 few hours in the sea, off Lowestoft, with a small-meshed net, a great number of the 

 fry of the herring were from time to time drawn on the beach when the net was 

 lauded, together with several kittiwicks, and in four separate instances I observed a 

 kittiwick, as soon as the net was drawn on shore, take up a young herring in its 

 pincer-shaped claws and march off with it towards the sea, with the utmost unconcern. 

 The kittiwicks were about two inches in diameter, and the herrings which they se- 

 lected were of about that length also. — /. H. Gurney ; Easton, Norfolk, July 13, 1850. 



Mode of killing Lepidoptera without changing the Colour. — Having killed some 

 green moths with sulphur, which of course turned them of an ochreous tint, and being 

 from home, I was puzzled to find some easy means at hand to kill other specimens, 

 and at the same time preserve their colour. I then hit upon a plan which is so sim- 

 ple, that it may be applied by any one whilst travelling, or at any time when the usual 

 apparatus is not at hand. The only thing required is a tin box, which fits pretty well : 

 mine is round, and one inch and a half in diameter, and exactly holds a nest of four 

 pill-boxes, preventing their being crashed in the pocket. Having shut up the moth 

 in a pill-box, it is to be put into the tin box, placing the lid close on : then hold it 

 for ten seconds over the flame of a candle, and do not open the box for the remainder 

 of the minute, that the heat may pass through the tin and vacuum into the pill-box, 

 and the moth will be found dead, perfect, and fit to set. I may add that my trials 

 were made with Phalense, and the vacuum was very trifling, ihe pill-box being nearly 

 as large as the tin one. Bruised laurel-leaves or ammonia may be preferable, but 

 they are not always at hand when travelling, or away from home. Moreover, I find 

 the laurel not always effective when fresh, unless the leaves are well bruised, and 

 insects remain rigid for a considerable space of time when thus destroyed, which is 

 very inconvenient when one is moving about, as they cannot be set and arranged at 

 once. — /. Curtis ; Barnsbury Park, July, 1850. 



Capture of rare Lepidoptera near Manchester. — Believing that the following insects, 

 captured by me in this neighbourhood, are not of very common occurrence, they may 

 perhaps be worthy of insertion in the 'Zoologist.' On the evening of the 23rd of 

 June, I took the Agrotis annexa, on the Rhododendrons, also the Abraxas Ulmata ; 

 and between then and the 28th of June, I took fifteen specimens of Plusia Iota, one 

 of Chsrocampa Porcellus, and three of C. Elpenor : all these were caught on the 

 Rhododendrons, in the evening. On the 25th of June, I took the Xylina rhizolitha on 

 Chat Moss. Last Saturday afternoon (13th of July) being a very sultry day, I cap- 

 tured one specimen of the Phorodesma smaragdaria ; it was flying very swiftly ; I took 

 it in a little wood on the borders of Chat Moss. I may also here mention, that in 

 1848 we took two specimens of this somewhat rare moth, at Chigwell, Essex. The 

 Abraxas pantaria was taken by me, July, 1849, at night, on the borders of Lake Win- 

 dermere. — E. Charles Buxton ; Kenyon House, near Manchester, July 15, 1850. 



Capture of Lepidoptera at Almondsbury, Gloucestershire. — 



Colias Edusa. Beginning of October, on the flowers of a small species of dandelion, 

 on high pastures ; scarce. 



Vanessa C-album. July and October. 



