3236 Insects. 



been associated with it : in fact, Hubner has done this, as I have previously stated, — 

 Coryli, a genuine Bombyx, and Scoriacea, a Noctua, forming his coitus Colocasia. 

 Some parts of Mr. Stephens' communication I do not understand, and therefore can- 

 not reply to them. The allusion to the genus Nonagria appears to me to prove nothing 

 more than that Haworth and others did not know genuine Noctuae from Tortricesand 

 Tinea? ; and however widely the species have been separated by authors, it is clear 

 that Mr. Stephens coincides in my views, as he has followed me with the exception of 

 subdividing my genus Nonagria into two or three others. In the ' Illustrations,' flam- 

 mea and Ulvae were placed among the Tineae, but in the Museum Catalogue they are 

 removed, and very properly, to the family Nonagridi, being true Noctuae. I admit 

 that the genus Chersotis is not a very natural one ; but I think that Agathina is far 

 more closely allied to Porphyrea than it is to umbrosa, with which it is associated by 

 Mr. Stephens, and which it resembles in nothing, either in the larva or perfect state. 

 With regard to Maura and Typica, I may say that if there is any madness in the case 

 it must be in placing the former in the family Catocalidi, with which, as Boisduval 

 justly remarks, it has nothing in common, excepting the large size of the perfect in- 

 sect, and the mealy appearance of the pupa. The larvae of the Catocalae are very 

 much elongated, flattened, attenuated at each extremity, and fringed laterally with 

 hairs ; they conceal themselves during the day in crevices of the bark of the trees upon 

 which they feed. The larva of Maura, on the contrary, is short, fleshy, and incras- 

 sated posteriorly, closely resembling that of typica, concealing itself underground in 

 the day-time, and feeding at night upon low-growing plants, forming a cocoon on the 

 surface of the earth when about to assume the pupa state. If Maura is associated 

 with any species it must be with typica, to which it is more nearly allied than to any 

 other European species. Mr. Stephens having mentioned the genera above alluded 

 to, as a proof that many of those in my list are no better than Hiibner's, I felt com- 

 pelled to say a few words in my own defence. I will not enter into the charges against 

 my friend Guenee, further than to say that he expressed his regret at having been 

 unable to obtain a sight of Haworth's ' Lepidoptera Britanniea' previously to the pub- 

 lication of his Catalogue, as he would have been glad to have quoted it for every one 

 of the species. I have since procured him a copy, and also sent him Mr. Stephens' 

 fourth volume, one great defect of which is the impossibility of knowing which of the 

 descriptions are original and which are taken from other authors; in several instances 

 the borrowed descriptions not applying to the insect intended by Mr. Stephens. In 

 conclusion, I may say that I am confident that neither M. Guenee nor any of the 

 French naturalists have ever intentionally slighted what has been done in Britain ; 

 and I am sure I have ever received the greatest attention and kindness from them. — 

 Henry Doubleday ; Epping, August 6, 1851. 



Note on the Scarcity of Insects. — I can most fully confirm the observations of Mr. 

 H. W. Newman on the scarcity of queen wasps this year, (Zool. 3185). Up to the 

 time of his writing the note which appeared in the ' Zoologist' for August, and indeed 

 until a month ago, I had hardly seen a wasp, and consequently expected that we 

 should have but very few ; they are now, however, on the eontrary, very numerous, 

 devouring all our wall-fruit, and filling the rooms directly the windows are opened. 

 It is a curious fact, that occasionally when queen wasps have been unusually numer- 

 ous in the spring, and there is every reason to expect a great abundance of wasps, 

 there arc nevertheless very few in the autumn ; while in other years, as is the case 

 now, after having had apparently a great paucity of queens, wasps are very numerous. 



