6902 Insects, 



July 6. Bred H. padellus from hawthorn ; very common, and both lai-va and imago 

 decidedly distinct from H. raalellus, both being much darker. 6, Stauropus Fagi. 

 August 8. My S. Fagi larva is now nearly full-fed. His attitude, when disturbed 

 (one rarely sees him feeding at ease), is with head and tail meeting over back, and his 

 long legs extended, sometimes with a vibratory motion, in front. The creature seems 

 peculiarly unfitted to walk on a flat surface ; it therefore attaches itself by its prolegs 

 to a twig at the bollom of a leaf ; then, holding the edge of the leaf at right angles to 

 its mandibles by its long front legs, and begin niug at the bottom, it eats its way 

 towards the top, leaving the central rib of the leaf for a support as it advances up- 

 wards, till the whole side of the leaf is eaten. 6. Slenopteryx hybridalis. Sept. 15. 

 Another S. hybridalis in hop-yard. The slow, weak flight of this insect, at this time 

 of year, is very remarkable, as compared with the rapid, darting motions it makes in 

 hot sunshine in the summer. The only other specimen I ever took in this neighbour- 

 hood was on the 20th of October, 1854. I have never seen it in the summer here, 

 though it is so common in burnl-up ground on the coast. The habits of the two 

 broods, according to my experience, are so unlike that I should be glad to hear more 

 about the insect. — E. Horlon ; Wick, Worcester, January 23, 1860. 



Companion LarvcB.— Some insects are never found per se ; they are always in com- 

 pany with others; as, for instance, the ants'-nest beetles and the mysterious inhabitants 

 of the wasp's nest. Many might have imagined that the character of " lick-spittle" 

 was confined to the human race; but no, in this we have our corresponding types, 

 clearly manifesting that we and other creatures of a far lower grade are (according to 

 Darwin) descended from a common ancestor. It is well known that some of the 

 "knot-horn" larvae, such as Acrobasis consociella, A. tumidella, &c., make large 

 liabitations of a handful of oak-leaves, in which a whole brood live sociably together; 

 it now appears that these insects keep companions, a Gelechia being attendant upon 

 each gregarious "knot-horn;" thus, Myelois suavella is accompanied by Gelechia 

 vepreiella {Zel. MS), Acrobasis consociella by a yet undetermined species of Gelechia, 

 and a still unascertained larva of one of the Phycidae, which abounds on hawthorn 

 near Vienna has Gelechia spurcella for its hand-maid. Do these Gelechia larvse feed 

 on the " frass" of the Phycidae?—^. T Stainlon; Feb. 6.—' Intelligencer: 



On the Douhle-brood Question, as it affects Fidonia conspicuata.— My friend 

 Mr. Greene appeals to me on this question, and I have much pleasure in stating that 

 I do not think any subject in Natural History is better known than the economy of 

 Fidonia conspicuata. There are two broods,— the first in May and the second in 

 August,— and in the proper locality the insect may be taken in abundance at these 

 seasons of the year. After the May brood disappears the larva? may be collected in 

 any quantity; they feed up and are in the pupa state by the beginning of July; from 

 this state they emerge towards the end of July, and continue on the wing most of 

 August. The larvse feed up and go in the pupa state into winter quarters by the 

 beginning of October, and re-appear the following May. I do not think any proper 

 inference can be drawn from what takes place in the transformation of insects in the 

 house; their changes are adapted for out of doors. I have at the present moment 

 some of the beautiful hybernating larvae of Limenitis Sybilla swinging in their snugly 

 formed hammocks from the branches of the honeysuckle, as they were shown to me 

 by Dr. Maclean, of this place. Now these little fellows, perhaps only a week old, will 

 bear any amount of cold, but they die if confined in the coldest room of the house; so 

 it is with the frequently observed and written-about changes of various insects. 



