Insects. 2885 



Capture of Diphthera Orion near Colchester. — I captured a very fine specimen of 

 this rare insect on the 21st of June, hy heating it from an oak-tree in a wood at Ded- 

 ham, near Colchester. — W. M. Frost ; Dedham, near Colchester, June 27, 1850. 



[The writer of this interesting note seemed to expect its appearance in the July 

 number : it was not received until that number was published. — E. Newman."] 



Capture of Odontia dentalis at Folkstone. — Yesterday I captured -here twenty spe- 

 cimens of this moth, brushing them out of some plants of Echium vulgare growing 

 near the sea. When roused they flew a short distance, and settled on the stems of 

 grasses, &c, and were easily captured. They were very local : I found them only in 

 one spot of a few yards' extent. — J. W. Douglas ; Folkstone, July 19, 1850. 



Occurrence of Chilo mucronellus in Scotland. — I took a single specimen of this 

 insect by the side of a loch near Glasgow, on the 28th of July, last year. It arose 

 from out of some reeds, and in its flight much resembled Crambus petrificellus, for which 

 insect I boxed it. It is a little worn ; but whether this may be considered as a token 

 that its season was nearly over, I cannot say. Parties, however, might look for it, in 

 similar localities, throughout next month. — John Scott ; London Works, Renfrew, 

 July 8, 1850. 



Occurrence of Asemum striatum at Renfrew. — Throughout last month this insect 

 has been frequently met with around here, I have myself taken ten specimens, and am 

 aware of the capture of several others. I find it more commonly on palings than on 

 old posts, and always in the after part of the day, from four to eight o'clock. It is 

 easily laid hold of, as it does not drop like most insects. It seems to prefer sitting 

 with its head downwards, which it keeps close to the paling, whilst its other parts 

 stand out at a considerable angle, owing to its raising itself on its hinder legs. — Id. 



Ferocity of a female Cicindela. — On the 27th of June, I caught a fine pair of 

 Cicindela sylvatica in copuld, and put them together in a small box, with some heath. 

 About two hours after, the female had mutilated the male by forcing one fore-leg out 

 of the socket, severing a middle leg at the trochanter, and amputating the hinder one 

 at the base of the tibia. This was all on one side : she then began, I suspect, on the 

 other side, and took off the tarsus of the fore-leg, her object, it may be presumed, being 

 to deprive her companion of the organs of locomotion, that she might make a quiet 

 meal of his body. The same ferocious disposition prevails in some spiders, and pro- 

 bably to a considerable extent amongst the carnivorous Coleoptera. In the order 

 Diptera, the males seem often to be banished from female society, and even amongst 

 the hive-bees the drones are sent to the right-about, when their services are no longer 

 required. This extraordinaiy (and to man's comprehension unnatural) economy 

 would admit of a deal of philosophy, but I shall only remark, that it is one of the 

 mysteries of nature, that the male Cicindela, which is scarcely smaller than the female, 

 and whose jaws are equally sharp and powerful, should quietly submit to be pulled to 

 pieces by his partner, without the slightest injury in the strife, to what we term the 

 softer sex. I send you the male with his disjointed limbs, that you may witness how 

 Cruelly he has been used. — E. S. ; communicated by John Curtis, Esq. 



Pezomachus hatched from the Cocoons of Microgaster. — The first week in June I 

 found a woolly mass of cocoons upon a twig of heath, and as usual it produced a 

 species of Microgaster, amounting in a few days to one male and seventeen females ; 

 but this was not all, for in about a fortnight six female Pezomachi hatched from the 

 same mass. It what way are these species connected ? Did they both lay their eggs 

 in the caterpillar? or is the Pezomachus a parasite upon the Microgaster? If this 

 VIII 2 K 



