6900 [nsects. 



Argynnis Lathonia. — I see that the question of the indigenous character of this 

 insect is still doubled by the members of the Entomological Society and others. 

 I may state, upon the authority of Dr. Maclean, who is one of the best observers with 

 whom I am acquainted, that he is in possession of evidence whicli clearly and beyond 

 all doubt proves that this insect not only is taken but breeds in this neighbourhood. 

 He has taken the insect both in spring and autumn, and one female which contained 

 fully developed eggs. The insect has been taken in this neighbourhood by at least 

 three, if not four, different people. — C. R. Bree. 



Vanessa Antiopa in Wakehurst Wood. — A beautiful day was the 6th of April, 1859; 

 the sun shone most brilliajit,and as hot as in July. I was walking through Wakehurst 

 Park, Sussex. All at ouce I saw something flying which appeared unusual ; it was 

 about twenty yards from where I stood, but the leafless branches of an oak were 

 between me and the object, so that I could not distinctly see what it was. I thought 

 it settled a little beyond the oak, and immediately went towards it. At this spot the 

 underwood was cut, but the heath, intermixed with the dead fronds of the brake, was 

 as high as my knees. Amongst this T was cautiously stepping, when, to my great 

 surprise, a most beautiful large Vanesssa Antiopa came flying slowly towards me, 

 and passed within a few feet; so close was it that I could see the angles of the beau- 

 tiful broad white border and of the wings. To capture it I had no means ; even if I 

 had it would have been difficult, on account of the unevenness of the ground and the 

 height of the heath. With the sun shining it looked as bright as if it was just 

 from the pupa ; but I suppose it had hybernated. — Edivard Jenner. 



Earhj Appearance of Dasychira pudibunda. — On the 3rd of this month a fine spe- 

 cimen of this moth emerged from the chrysalis. For a short time it was very active, 

 but it has been ever since quiescent, perhaps torpid. The caterpillar spun its cocoon 

 on the 29th of last September, and the chrysalis was kept in a room the temperature 

 of which, in winter, never varies more than a few degrees from 62° day or night. I 

 suppose it is this comparatively high temperature which caused the fly to appear at 

 this unusual time of the year. — Thomas Clark ; Halesleigh, January 17, 1860. 



Description of the Larva and Pupa of Endromis versicolor. — In April tlie female 

 lays her eggs on the slender twigs of the birch tree, and the caterpillars come out 

 about the 1st of May. At first they are gregarious, spinning a web over the twig and 

 attaching themselves by tlieir claspers, and holding their beads straight up in the air; 

 when just hatched they are smoke-coloured, with a darker line down the back, and a 

 dark oblique mark on each segment : there are pimples or warts all over the body, 

 each emitting five or six black hairs ; the lip in front of the head is yellow, and there 

 are two yellow crescent-shaped marks immediately behind the head : the legs are red- 

 dish yellow. After changing its skin the first time, and eating its cast-off" coat, an 

 operation which it invariably performs, the caterpillar becomes of a dull pale green 

 colour, covered with minute black points, and having a conspicuous narrow dark line 

 down the middle of its back ; on each side is a series of paler green diagonal lines ; 

 the head is yellowish, with two pairs of longitudinal blackish stripes, and a black sjiot 

 between them ; the claspers are yellow. After the second change, the caterpillar 

 becomes a bright apple-green colour, still powdered with innumerable minule black 

 points on the sides and claspers: the back is whiter green, with a narrow dark line 

 down the very middle ; there is a pale oblique stripe on each segment, bordered with 

 darker green ; the second, third and fourth segments have a whitish line on each side ; 

 the head has two blackish h)ngitudinal lines on each side. The third change produces 



