5538 Insects. 



ground, have probably been selected as drier and more suitable spots wherein to pass 

 the winter, if not to undergo their transformation. Several species of the more 

 common Coleoptera, among which Loricera pilicornis was the most abundant, were 

 found in the same snug retreats ; these were a little torpid at first, but yet alive and in 

 good condition for the cabinet, even in this the first month of the year. Neither the 

 number of my visits nor the success obtained on these two occasions can warrant any 

 sanguine expectations from such localities. My purpose is accomplished if this 

 notice shall induce any of your readers to search them when they meet such moss- 

 covered stumps in their hunting-grounds, and to report to you the result. — G. Gordon ; 

 Birnie by Elgin, N.B. January 17, 1857. 



Pupa Digging > round Manchester. — During the last fifteen years this system, ap- 

 parently so little practised in the South, has been carried to great excess in this 

 district : many thousands of chrysalides are annually procured from the roots of poplar, 

 oak, beech, chestnut, willow, &c. ; with the exception of one Chaouia, I am not aware 

 of a single rarity bred, — certainly none ever fell to my share ; the bulk are composed of 

 ocellatus, Populi, bucephala, dictfea (rare), Populeti, instabilis, stabilis, cruda, munda, 

 gothica, megacephala,bidentaria, betularia, &c, of which fifty per cent, are instabilis. 

 The amazing labour required to procure a great number of chrysalides, and the 

 result, so far as this district is concerned, is a complete waste of time and exertion. 

 The great point in favour of digging, even in a barren district like this, is that it 

 enables the collector to employ his spare time in the winter and spring months, 

 instead of being idle. Judging from my own, and the result of other, diggings, 1 have 

 not the slightest hesitation in saying the system must rank far below the usual methods 

 of procuring insects; for instance, compare the result of a few nights' attention to 

 sallow blossoms, if instabilis, Populeti, munda, stabilis, &c, are wanted, or a stroll into 

 the woods at night with a lantern in October and November, and again in spring, — he 

 must be an extensive proprietor of boxes, if not fully satisfied with abundance of common 

 species, in the finest condition. A trowel is never used for digging in this district, 

 but a far more effective instrument, in the shape of a small three-pronged garden fork, 

 with the prongs bent downwards, requires less exertion than a trowel in pulling up 

 grass, sods, &c, and, where the surface is free from rubbish, rakes the ground 

 effectually. Some years ago, when the cocoons of Cerura bifida were in great de- 

 mand, our collectors brought the hunting of them to great perfection ; there is no 

 "royal way" of finding them, — nothing but practice: the cocoons are placed very 

 irregularly, sometimes on the bark below the soil, others several yards above, the 

 majority from one to five feet: the larvae occasionally ramble, and form their cocoons 

 on oak, alder, &c, invariably a poplar close by: the most productive trees are those 

 growing on the banks of streams. Perhaps Mr. C. S. Gregson, of Liverpool, will 

 communicate the result of his experience in " raking" the sand hills at New Brighton, 

 and how the different species of Agrotis, Mamestra albicolon, Leucania littoralis, &c, 

 are procured. — Robert S. Edleston ; Manchester, February 2, 1857. 



Correction of an Error in the ' Intelligencer. .' — At p. 173 of the 'Intelligencer' 

 is my notice of the capture of Lathonia, which I have lately found out (by seeing it 

 in the British Museum collection) to be only Aglaia : it is very much like Lathonia, 

 being exactly the same size, of a much lighter colour than Aglaia generally is, and 

 has no green on the under side of its hind wings. As I had never seen Lathonia, and 

 relied upon the description, to which 1 thought it exactly answered, as to the time of 

 its appearance, &c, T hope I shall be excused this mistake. — Hardinge W. Browne ; 

 1, W( stbourne Street, Hyde Park Gardens, February 21, 1857. 



