Insects. 1347 



my breeding cage, I perceived a female recently excluded, the male instantly rushed 

 into the compartment heedless of my being close to it. During the day six males 

 were eventually captured. Instinct in this instance must indeed be all-powerful, as 

 the males could never have seen the females or even the cage, which was in a dark 

 part of the room and many things placed upon it. It would almost appear as if the 

 first had given intimation to the others, so many congregating near the house in mid- 

 day. It may not be generally known, that on applying the empty cocoon of this moth 

 to the blue flame of a candle, it first burns to a white ash, and then becomes equal in 

 intensity to the " Bude light "—a brilliant phosphoric white of dazzling brightness. 

 I have never tried the cases of any other of the Lepidoptera. What causes this ? — 

 F. W. L. Ross ; Topsham, Devon. 



Habitat of Gortyna Petasitidis. — This moth, apparently unknown on the continent, 

 and rare in this district, I am convinced might be found by collectors elsewhere, pro- 

 vided attention be paid to the plant on which they appear to be so exceedingly partial, 

 and from whence the specific name is derived, Tussilago Petasites in the neighbour- 

 hood of Failsworth grows in great luxuriance on the banks of a rivulet ; the moths 

 appear in August and are captured on the wing at dusk, and occasionally taken dur- 

 ing the daytime resting on the leaves of the plant. Mr. Jobson met with it last year 

 in Scotland in a similar locality. — Robert J. Edleston ; Cheetham, April 28th, 1846. 



Capture of Orthosia leucographa (Hub.) — Mr. Bond and myself took eleven speci- 

 mens of this rare Noctua from off the blossoms of the sallows, between Ockley and 

 Leith Hill in Surrey on the evenings of the 14th, 15th, and 16th of last month, just 

 five weeks earlier than we took it last year. — S. Stevens ; 38, King Street, Covent 

 Garden. 



Note on Graphiphora tristigma (Ochs.) — I fortunately possess a specimen of this 

 distinct species, the true Graphiphora tristigma of the continent, which I have had in 

 my cabinet the last two years, and supposed it only an extraordinary variety of trian- 

 gulum, which it much resembles ; but it differs principally from that insect by the 

 wings being longer, the under-wing very much paler, the colour over the entire insect 

 much lighter, more of a chestnut hue, besides the markings on the superior wings be- 

 ing placed rather different, it agrees precisely with a foreign specimen of tristigma 

 which Mr. H. Doubleday has received from M. Pierrot. I bred it from a larva I found 

 feeding on the sallows, I believe at Weybridge in Surrey, in the spring. The 

 graphiphora tristigma of some of the old cabinets is now found to be the rhomboidea 

 (Ochs.)— S. Stevens ; 38, King Street, Covent Garden. 



Capture of Cleora, or Ephyra pictaria. — I took three specimens, all females, of this 

 rare Geometra on the palings on Dartford Heath, the first on the 11th inst., the two 

 others the following day, all in good condition. — S. Stevens ; 38, King Street, Covent 

 Garden. 



Larva of Graphiphora cataleuca (Reginera, Steph.) — I have again succeeded in 

 taking the larva of this local insect ; and not finding it described in any work which I 

 have seen, I subjoin the accompanying figure and description. When full-grown, it 

 is about an inch and a half in length ; the general colour greenish, or grayish black, 

 suffused in some individuals with a faint purplish bloom ; along the back are two rows 

 of whitish or yellowish spots, each spot bounded anteriorly by a darker shade of black. 

 These macula? become indistinct towards the head, and disappear entirely on the 

 third segment ; they are much more fully developed in some individuals than in others; 

 the general colour is also variable. I have selected one of the most strongly marked 



