Insects. 1655 



Occurrence of Sphinx Convolvuli near Ely. — On the 17th of August last I saw a 

 fine specimen of Sphinx Convolvuli taken on board a vessel a few miles off Yarmouth. 

 About the same time this insect was, I believe, rather common at Ely. One indivi- 

 dual has five or six specimens ; another has two, and I have been informed that seve- 

 ral more were seen. — Marshall Fisher ; St. Mary's, Ely, October 15th, 1846. 



Note on Clisiocampa castrensis. — I could not meet with a single larva of this insect 

 this year, in a locality (Isle of Sheppey) where, in some years, hundreds could be col- 

 lected. It is a very difficult insect to breed if the larvae are obtained very young, and 

 even when taken full-fed they frequently die after having spun up. — Thomas Ingall ; 

 Bank of England. 



Observations tending to establish a new British Species of the Genus Lasiocampa. — 

 From repeated conversation which I have had with my friend, the well-known natu- 

 ralist, Mr. Weaver, and from careful investigation of all the facts and circumstances 

 stated by him, little doubt exists in my mind, that, under the common designation of 

 Lasiocampa Quercus, two perfectly distinct species of British Egger have been con- 

 founded by entomologists. I have minutely examined, through a powerful microscope, 

 the antennae of both the common species, and of that which Mr. Weaver is seeking to 

 establish as new ; and can, consequently, vouch for the correctness of his observations 

 respecting the peculiarities of structure of that important organ, which tend so power- 

 fully to corroborate Mr. Weaver's views. I shall now content myself with transcribing, 

 in the simple but lucid and expressive language of Mr. Weaver, the facts and obser- 

 vations upon which his opinions are founded, and conclude by a retrospect of the more 

 striking peculiarities of structure and habit by which the two insects are characterized. 

 The following is Mr. Weaver's statement: — 



" Entomologizing on Rannock-moors, in the county of Perth, in June, 1845, 1 had 

 the good fortune to capture ten specimens of this noble moth, — eight males and two 

 females, flying at mid-day. Their flight is so high and rapid that it is very difficult to 

 capture them. I took, also, at the same date, in the dusk of evening, a very fine spe- 

 cimen of the female. 



" In June, 1844, on Rannock-moors, I found a caterpillar, of which I had not be- 

 fore seen the like, and, therefore, it was the more interesting to me. By diligently 

 searching over the moors, on a misty day, I found others, of the same kind, feeding on 

 the heath plant, which in September formed their cocoon. In June, 1845, I found 

 more caterpillars, of the same species, on the heath, and those also changed into the 

 chrysalis in September. And, again, in June and July, 1846, I took a few more of 

 the caterpillar on the heath, which changed in September; and these I now have in 

 the chrysalis state. I have given my best attention to all the changes of this interest- 

 ing species for the last three years, and the result is, that I find all the circumstances 

 precisely the same in each year. 



" The larva, whilst young, feeds on the birch (Betula), willow (Salix), and heath 

 (Calluna — formerly Erica — vulgaris). It comes out from the egg in July, and is 

 adorned with a row of small gray spots on the back, which increase in size as the cat- 

 erpillar grows, till the spots appear as large as common peas. These spots are not in 

 the skin, but consist of light gray-coloured hairs, the rest of the hairs being of a dark 

 chesnut colour, and so contrasting with the light gray before mentioned. But at the 

 end of twelve months the caterpillar changes into its last skin, and the spots, at the 

 same time, entirely disappear. It then might be mistaken for the caterpillar of another 

 species, if its size and season of the year were not regarded, and also the long period 



