Insects. 3245 



without moving from the spot where I stood. I am quite convinced that upon one 

 swamp here, as many might be taken as would fill the void of all the cabinets in Eng- 

 land. To give anything of its habits seems quite unnecessary, as it has been so well 

 described before. Suffice it to say that its mode of flight is that of a true Crambus ; 

 its capture is the most easy imaginable, seldom rising from the bottom of the net, and 

 when boxed, seems quite content in its new situation. — John Harrison, jun. ; Keswick, 

 Cumberland, August 8, 1851. 



Notes on various Microlepidoptera. — I have not seen it mentioned that the larva of 

 Tinea cloacella is insectivorous ; yet I had two or three small moths eaten out of the 

 setting-board by it some time since, and I fed it in a glass with similar diet, until it 

 changed to the pupa. Depressaria Hypericella, (Sta. Cat.) — I have again bred this, 

 and freely, from the little, black, agile larvae found in the tops of Hypericum perfora- 

 tum, about the 4th of June, changing to pupa? about the 20th, and developing on the 

 6th of July. But, though the plant is plentiful here in the limestone district, yet the 

 spot whence I obtain my supply is single ; it forms about half an acre of open ground 

 in the centre of a gorse-cover, under a grove of ash-trees : on searching the plant in 

 other localities, I did not obtain half a dozen larva?. It is certainly the most elegant 

 species we have, I think, and its fine crest gives it a great pre-eminence. In one of 

 my specimens the usual luteous costal and discoidal marks are of a beautiful rose-co- 

 lour. It is very easily bred ; but not so Depressaria Angelicella, which I have also 

 reared, but more sparingly, owing partly to its absolute scarcity, and partly to the ten- 

 derness of the larva?, of which several died without changing to pupa?. The larva? of 

 the latter insect I take on the top leaves of Angelica sylvestris (a common plant in our 

 damp woods and lanes), which it clusters together, about the same time as Hyperi- 

 cella, and taking the same periods in its changes. D. pallorella, too, I have reared (a 

 solitary specimen) from the same plant ; at least it came out with the Angelicella?, in 

 the same breeding-glass. I was grievously disappointed about Xanthosetia inopiana, 

 having taken a great number of larva? from the tops of Inula Dysenterica, at Midsum- 

 mer, but all of these produced that common pest, Ebulea crocealis. In the first week 

 of July, however, I fortunately met with the " real thing," but in the imago state, and 

 almost invariably worn. I attribute this to the fact which I noticed, that they show 

 themselves from cracks in the earth a little before sunset, and where they must be ex- 

 posed occasionally to abrasion from particles of loose earth. This circumstance, too, 

 induces me to doubt whether the larva? may not feed on the roots instead of the leaves 

 of the Inula: I shall try to ascertain this next year. I am sure it has some connexion 

 with the Inula, for wherever I find the plant I can, almost certainly, reckon on taking 

 the insect. It puzzles me to think why this moth should have been hitherto consi- 

 dered scarce, as here it is decidedly common ; that is, in damp spots, where the Inula 

 abounds. I could have taken fifty any evening in the beginning of July, and, even 

 now, I find lots of worn specimens. Tortrix spectrana. — This I have bred freely from 

 larva? taken at Midsummer on the tops of Epilobium hirsutum, in an obsolete fish- 

 pond, where Carex paludosa grows abundantly. I searched the same plant in the ad- 

 joining brooks, and other localities, however, without finding a single larva. The 

 larva? are rich brown and very active ; they draw together the leaves and form a slight 

 web in which the pupa forms ; the latter is a very pretty object through a lens. Eu- 

 poecilia notulana (vel udana P). — I met with this, as usual, in this old pool. I shall 

 be happy to send the larva? of Achroea grisella to any amateur who would like them. 

 — J. Allen Hill ; Almondsburg House, near Bristol, August 10, 1851. 



