78 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



with a ihiii coating of silk ; consequently in its early stages it 

 is rather difficult to find, but as it increases in size it generally 

 removes to another berry ; its presence may then be detected 

 by the frass protruding from the hole through which the larva 

 has eaten into the fruit. I believe it to be a very local insect; 

 I only obtained it after a diligent search in five seasons in 

 several counties. It has been stated by our continental friends 

 that the larvae of this species enter the earth to undergo their 

 transformations, but the first I met with (about twenty) all 

 spun their cocoons at the top of a large glass cylinder, 

 covered with gauze, placed over a pan of earth and moss. 

 In 1868 the larvae were far more numerous, and it occurred 

 again in its old locality at Darenth, and also in Surrey. It is 

 flesh-coloured, with a tinge of rose-colour along the back, and 

 is generally full fed at the end of September and through 

 October, and in 1868 larvae were to be obtained till the end 

 of November. By putting a supply of rotten wood into ray 

 breeding-cages I have been very successful in breeding this 

 insect, nearly every larva producing a moth. — IVm, Machin ; 

 21, Argyle Road, Carlton Square, Mile End. 



Lateness of the Season. — On the 12th of April I took two 

 fine A. prodromaria, evidently only just out of the chrysalis, 

 at rest on oak trunks, at about five o'clock in the afternoon. 

 — [Rev.) A. H. Wratislaw ; School Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, 

 April 16, 1870. 



Does Bomhyx Ruhi feed after Hybernation? — A friend 

 has just forwarded to me the current number of the 'Ento- 

 mologist,' and curiously enough it answers the very query 

 I have several times lately put to myself, viz. When does the 

 larva of B. Rubi feed up ? 1 was greatly puzzled last year, 

 for on the 20th of May my wife found a larva of Rubi, 

 evidently only about half-grown, which did feed, though not 

 heartily, on bramble : unfortunately it died from a hurt. In 

 the first week of June I took the perfect insect plentifully, 

 some specimens being already worn. Consequently I was 

 much astonished, as I did not consider twelve or fourteen 

 days would have been sufficient for the feeding up, metamor- 

 phosis and emergence of my solitary caterpillar. Probably 

 the individual was an instance of the exception which Mr. 

 Doubleday supposes might happen. — [Rev.) Alex. Nash; 

 Hardwicke, Gloucester, April 5, 1870. 



