328 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



My last communication to you has caused so many letters to me, 

 from correspondents who cannot consult your previous volumes, that 

 I am led to beg for space in your next issue, that I may shortly repeat 

 my directions for forcing the pupa of A. atropos. I half fill a ten -inch 

 garden-pot with sand, place on the top a layer of damp moss, lay on 

 it the pupae, and cover these again with another layer of moss ; arrange 

 some sticks round for the moth to climb, and cover with a bell-glass, 

 as used by gardeners, to fit inside the rim of the pot. Put into a 

 soup-plate containing water, and place the whole arrangement inside 

 the dining-room fender, not too close to the fire, turning the pot round 

 occasionally to equalise the heat, and adding more water to the plate 

 when it gets low. If this is done at the end of October, the perfect 

 insect may be looked for about Christmas. It generally emerges to- 

 wards night, the pupa becoming dark and soft, and turning on its back 

 shortly previous to the emergence. — H. W. Livett ; Wells, Somerset. 



In reply to Mr. Edward R. Walker's queries as to the best method 

 of breedmg this species, I have much pleasure in furnishing him with 

 an account of the means I adopted some years ago with perfect 

 success. I forget what year it was, but larvae and pupae of atropos 

 were more than usually abundant. I went round to different fields 

 where potato-digging was in operation, and showed the men drawings 

 of both larva and pupa, and told them that I would give twopence 

 each for any they might find. The consequence was that in a day or 

 two I had a couple of dozen of larv« and pupffi brought to me, and 

 had to tell the men that I did not want any more. The larvae were 

 nearly all full grown, and went down in a few days. I had endeavoured 

 to breed this species the previous year, but had failed altogether ; so I 

 thought I would try some other plan. When the larvae had been 

 underground for three weeks I dug up the pupae. I then procured a 

 large flower-pot, filled it half full of gravel, upon which I placed a 

 layer of damp moss, about two inches thick, and upon this the pupae, 

 covering them with another layer of damp moss about an inch thick. 

 A piece of muslin was then tied over the top, and the pot placed on 

 the kitchen mantelpiece. Twice a week the layer of moss above the 

 pupae was taken out, plunged into a basin of tepid water, wrung out, 

 and replaced. The moths began to appear in about a month's time, 

 and from twenty pupae thus treated nineteen moths appeared, only 

 one being a cripple. A day or two before the moths emerge the pupae 

 begin to change colour, until they become nearly black, and at this 

 period feel very soft to the touch, and, if handled a few hours before 

 hatching, the moths may be heard squeaking within. I believe that I 

 sent an account of this at the time to the old ' Entomologist's Weekly 

 Intelhgencer' [vol. v. p. 69, Nov. 27th, 1858]. — Gekvase F. Mathew ; 

 H.M.S. • Hawke,' Salonica, Oct. 14th, 1896. 



We have just had the pleasure of successfully rearing an imago of 

 A. atropos. The larva (from Northamptonshire) pupated about Sept. 

 15th. On the 27th we placed the chrysalis in the forcing apparatus 

 designed by Mr. Sturt, which was described in the ' Entomologist' for 

 July by Dr. Guard Knaggs. The moth — quite perfect — emerged on 

 October 15th, after being in the "incubator" for eighteen days, the 

 water being kept at about 105°. — A. R. and R. H. Heath; Willesden, 

 Middlesex. 



