THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 29 



part of the young larvae, leaving me twenty-four to proceed 

 with. These were fed on oaks growing in pots until they 

 had passed the second moult, afterwards on cut branches. 

 The formation of the cocoons commenced on the 7lh of 

 August, and of the twenty-four larva? twenty-three passed to 

 the pupa state, forming splendid cocoons ; the remaining 

 one, which had gone through the four moults, did not 

 attempt to spin: it had been weakly from "youth up." 

 Some of these larvae far exceeded in size those of Yama- 

 mai, as do the cocoons those of that insect. The moths 

 began to emerge on the 26l1i of September, and within ten 

 days twelve came forth. I allowed three pairs to copulate, 

 from which I obtained upwards of four hundred eggs ; the 

 remaining eleven are still (December) in the pupa state and 

 lively. To-day I opened one of the eggs, and found the 

 larva formed and alive. In North China this insect is 

 double-brooded, and in the case before us the double- 

 brooded tendency is manifested. It will be interesting to 

 note the result of this variation, in individuals from the same 

 stock, as to time of hatching, emerging, &c., next year. 

 I hope to be able to keep the hatches separate, and develope 

 the experiment, possibly obtaining two broods from those 

 now in the egg state. There seems to be a tendency in this 

 insect to adapt itself to our climate, and should this prove to 

 be the case I believe it will be by far the most productive of 

 the new silk-moths, the larvae are so easily reared, the 

 cocoons much larger and heavier than those of either Yama- 

 mai or Cynthia. 1 may mention that two of the larvae fed 

 fully a fortnight after all the others had spun up, and grew to 

 an enormous size ; the cocoons are proportionately larger 

 than the others : they are among those now in pupa, and 

 will, I expect, produce two splendid females. — G. Gascoyne; 

 Newark, December, 1869. 



Choerocaynpa Celerio. — It may be interesting to know 

 that a specimen of this rare insect was captured at rest on 

 the curtain of a dwelling-house at Barbourne, near Worcester, 

 on the 28th of September, 1865. — iJ. H. O'Farrell; Ken- 

 sington, London. 



Xylophasia Zolliko/eri, Freyer, a British Insect. — The 

 beginning of October, 1867, Mr. Harding took a large Noctua 

 at Deal, which was unknown to me, but which I thought 



