360 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Society, set in the continental fashion, I think he must have a peculiar 

 taste if he prefers the old style to the new. To speak of *' laws of 

 nature," when setting is concerned, seems to me to be entirely out of 

 place. — M. Jacoby ; Hemstall Road, W. Hampstead. 



''Apple trees and Wingless Females." — I think that few practical 

 entomologists will agree that Mr. Arkle has made out his case, viz. 

 that the males do carry up the wingless females, and thus evade the 

 grease-ring [aiite, p. 193). I was not specially referring, in my 

 previous remarks, to fruit trees, but to forest trees generally. If the 

 males do carry the females, it must be either by accident or design. I 

 do not say that it is impossible, but that it is highly improbable. 

 Cheimatohia brumata is, I believe, one of the most destructive insects 

 that the fruit-grower has to contend with, and the male of this species 

 is a particularly weak flyer, and very unlikely to accomplish the feat. 

 As far as design is concerned, I am not prepared to admit that any 

 species could develop this tendency since grease-bands or any other pre- 

 ventive methods were invented. The arrangements adopted are most 

 likely not sufficiently efficacious to ensure the capture of all the females 

 as they ascend the trunks. There is also another matter to consider, 

 — the distribution of these larv^ (and those of the genus Hyhernia) by 

 wind. Mr. Arkle admits that some fruit-growers say that the grease- 

 rings are useless, and in that case they probably do not adopt them. 

 Owing to their common habit of suspending themselves, a strong wind 

 would easily account for the presence of larvaB in a neighbouring 

 orchard. Last spring Hawk Wood, Chingford, presented a most 

 remarkable spectacle. The larger trees — oaks, hornbeams, &c. — were 

 enveloped as it were by huge cobwebs, and the long strands of twisted 

 threads were floating in the wind to a considerable distance. ^ Upon 

 these silken ladders multitudes of larvae (mostly those of wingless 

 females) were ascending and descending. Finally, I do not think that 

 it would be wise to assume that the males carry up the wingless 

 females until we have further proof, as entomologists generally have 

 very little faith in newspaper entomology, owing to the many mis- 

 leading statements that have from time to time been published in the 

 daily press.-- Alfred T. Mitchell ; 5, Clayton Terrace, Gunnersbury, 

 W., Aug. 20th, 1896. 



The Front Legs of Agriopis aprilina. — I bred a few specimens of 

 Agriopis aprilina last autumn, and overcame the difficulty of getting 

 out their front legs by letting them remain in the cyanide bottle about 

 thirty-six hours. By this means the whole insect becomes much softer, 

 and the legs come out as easy as those of any other moth. — F. Milton ; 

 7, Chilton Street, Bethnal Green, E. 



Entomologist v. Collector. — It has struck me, while reading the 

 remarks on the above subject of various contributors to the ' Entomo- 

 logist,' that the exact position of neither class has been at all clearly 

 defined. I will endeavour to do so on purely theoretical grounds, and 

 then perhaps it will appear that the problem can be reduced to com- 

 parative insignificance. As the terms stand, the only possible differ- 

 ence that suggests itself between the two classes exists in the suppo- 

 sition that while a ''mere collector" does not set about his work with 



