Insects. 5293 



considerably before the usual time, I think I am right in saying that not a single 

 moth appeared till the following spring. We thus have N. cucullina, N. carmelita, 

 N. camelina and N. ziczac treated in a precisely similar manner, and the very different 

 result which occurred in the case of the two latter is to me a convincing proof that 

 they are double-brooded, whilst the two former are as undoubtedly the contrary. It 

 also appears to me to prove that confinement, abundant supply of food, and want of 

 air and " exercise," have little or nothing to do with the question. I have several 

 times bred N. dictaea and N. dromedarius in the beginuing of the autumn from eggs 

 or larvae found the previous June or July; N. dictaeoides I have not yet bred in the 

 autumn, though I have had the larvae full-fed in July, but the pupae unfortunately 

 died. I have within the last few days taken a specimen of N. camelina, and 

 Mr. H. Cooke informs me that he his taken it several times towards the middle of 

 August. The case seems to stand thus: the spring-laid eggs of N. dictaea, N. drome- 

 darius, N. ziczac and N. camelina occasionally, if not always, produce moths at the 

 end of the summer of the same year, and I have no doubt whatever in my own mind 

 that this is a wise arrangement of Providence, by which, in case the season should be 

 unfavourable to the maturity of the summer brood of larvae, an autumnal brood is 

 produced, which supplies the deficiency which would otherwise occur in the moths 

 of the following spring. — H. Harpur Crewe; Slricklands, Stowmarket, August 19, 

 1856. 



Double-broodedness of the Nolodontee. — Tn the last number of the 'Zoologist' 

 (Zool. 5255) Mr. Naish "begs most distinctly to assert" that Nolodonta dictaea is 

 double-brooded, and in proof thereof tells us that the Bristol collectors look for and 

 find the perfect insect in May and at the end of July. Mr. Naish must allow me to 

 observe that he has yet to prove that the moths which emerge in May are the parents 

 of those found in July, in order to complete his chain of evidence. He adds, "we 

 find them (i. e. the perfect insects) appear at two regularly stated times, and never 

 between those times;" such may possibly be the case at Bristol, but, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London, specimens which assume the pupa-state in the autumn frequently 

 do not emerge till the following July, and Mr. Naish does not produce the least 

 evidence to contradict the supposition that his July specimens are produced from pupae 

 of the previous year, just the same as in this part of the country. — E. Shepherd ; 

 September 5, 1856. 



Description of two Noctuina new to Britain. — 



1. Leucania vitellina. Abdomen testaceous-white; the fore wings pale fulvous, 

 with two waved transverse lines, a few points, and a discoidal spot all darker; hind 

 wings nearly white. A very distinct species, first figured in Engramel's ' Papillons 

 d'Europe,' 506, a,b. The following references may also be useful : — Noctua vitellina, 

 Hubn. Samml. Eur. Schmetl. Not. pi. 81, f. 379 ; pi. 128, f. 589. Xanthia vitellina, 

 Treit. Schmett. Eur. v. 2, 356, 9 ; Suppl. x. 88. Leucania vitellina, Dup. Hist. Nat. 

 Lep. Fr. vii. 475, pi. 130, f. 5. Boisd. Ind. Meth. 132, 1047. Gnen. Ann. Soc. EnU 

 Fr. vi. Noct. i. 73, 92. Noctua (Xanthia) vitellina, Meig. Syst. Besch. Eur Schmett. 

 iii. 160, 144, pi. 107, f. 15. Aletia vitellina, Hubn. Verz. Schmett. 239, 2371. This 

 is well known as a native of Europe, and three European specimens are in the cabinet 

 of the British Museum; the only English example has lately been captured at sugar 

 by Mr. Henry Cooke, in his own garden, at Brighton. 



2. Laphygma exigua. The fore wings somewhat ash-coloured, marked with trans- 

 verse undulated lines ; these are indistinct and paler than the ground-colour ; there are 



