4508 Entomological Botany. 



Saponaria officinalis. Common Soapwort. 



This plant, which grows in " roadsides and hedges, mostly near 

 villages," I have never met with. It is fed upon by the larva of 

 Neuria Saponariae, which eats the leaves, not the seeds ; the latter are 

 eaten by the larva of Dianthaecia Capsincola (for a graphic description 

 of the mode of feeding of the Dianthaecia larvae, I must refer to 

 Guenee's ' Histoire Naturelle des Noctuelites,' vol. ii. p. 17, the pas- 

 sage being too long to transcribe here, and no abstract would do it 

 justice). The larva of Gelechia Fischerella feeds in the terminal 

 shoots of this plant, in May, betraying its whereabouts by the con- 

 torted appearance it gives to the head of the plant. In September 

 and October the larva of Coleophora Saponariella feeds on the leaves, 

 in small, cylindrical, nearly straight cases : these larvae hybernate 

 nearly full fed, but feed a little in the months of May and June of the 

 following year. 



Silene nutans. Nottingham Catchfly. 



Common in many parts of the country, on chalk and limestone. 

 Of Dianthaecia albimacula there is still, I believe, only a single 

 British specimen : bearing in mind what Guenee remarks of the habits 

 of the larvae of this genus, and the ease with which they may be 

 found by lamp-light, his observation with reference to this species, 

 " not rare wherever the Silene nutans grows, on which plant the larva 

 feeds," is of considerable importance. Mr. Harpur Crewe has found 

 the larva of D. carpophaga feeding on the seeds of this plant. 



Silene Otites. Spanish Catchfly. 



Occurs in sandy and gravelly fields, in the Eastern counties. It is 

 on this plant that Coleophora Otitae feeds in the larva state : it is pro- 

 bable that the larvae feed on the seeds in the autumn (see Zeller in 

 'Linnaea Entomological iv. 348), but it is certain that they feed on 

 the under side of the lowermost leaves in the spring : the case is cy- 

 lindrical, straight, and fully half an inch long. The entomologists of 

 Norfolk and Cambridgeshire should seek for it. 



Silene inflata. Bladder Campion. 



Abundant on dry chalky and sandy banks, and well known as one 

 of the flowers most attractive to moths. It is fed upon by the larva 

 of Neuria Saponariae ; and the larvae of Dianthaecia Cucubali, capsin- 



