Insects. 5325 



Trifolii, but with the six spots of Filipendulae. I have known the locality well ever 

 since I have collected, and am quite certain that the two species have become com- 

 mon there only as the result of the improved drainage of the flourishing district in 

 which I found them. Until recently Trifolii was very scarce there, and Filipendulae 

 occurred about in the proportion of one to a hundred at the present time. I mention 

 this fact because it is satisfactory to think that cultivation in some cases is of advan- 

 tage even to the entomologist. — J. Jenner Weir ; 6, Haddo Villas, Blackheath, S.E., 

 October, 1857. 



Positions of Lepidoptera. — The ordinary position of insects, whether at rest or in 

 motion, is worth very attentive examination. We have all learned from Linneus that 

 butterflies rest with their wings erect, moths with their wings deflexed ; but how many 

 years have passed away without our adding a jot or tittle to this fragment of know- 

 ledge! We may fairly assume that every natural group of Lepidoptera has its dis- 

 tinctive characters while living : we have only to observe them. Thus, a Geometer 

 always exhibits its hind wings when at rest ; if a Eupithecia, the entire hind wing is 

 exposed ; in other Geometers some portion is concealed. Again, if you start a Geo- 

 meter and see it settle on a fence, it will almost invariably run with its wings erected 

 and meeting above its back like a butterfly at rest ; before going to sleep again it will 

 give two or three flaps with its wings and then expand them, appressing them as 

 closely as possible to the paling. No other Macro-Lepidopterous insect runs with 

 erected wings ; I will say nothing of the Micros. Then how strange is the attitude 

 of a Pterophorus at rest; the narrow wings standing at right angles with the body, 

 the entire body exposed ; not a. particle of it can by any possibility be concealed by 

 the wings ; and then the hind legs, jauntily cocked up in the air, like the little finger 

 of a lady of the olden time, as though far too delicate and graceful to be of any use, 

 and only to be worn for ornament ; indeed, these said hind legs of Pterophorus are 

 often crossed over the abdomen and rest there, as though not only not intended for 

 use, but as being actually too delicate to bear their own weight. — Edward Newman. 



How to rear the Death's Head. — I have been very successful in breeding Ache- 

 rontia Atropos ; the method I have adopted is this : T feed the larvae in large flower-pots 

 half-filled with light mould for them to effect their transformations in ; after they 

 have been under ground ten days, I take them out, and put them in pots partly filled 

 with mould and sand, and well drained. I keep them in a warm room, and well satu- 

 rate them with water once a week ; to keep up the moisture I put damp moss over 

 them every third day. In this way I have bred fourteen as fine specimens as ever 

 were seen, some of them 5£ inches across the wing. One of them was only three 

 weeks from the larva going under ground to the appearance of the perfect insect, but 

 I find a month about the average time. It is time that entomologists should be on 

 the look out for A. saucia and A. auslralis : I took a few specimens of both a fortnight 

 ago. — H. Rogers ; Freshwater, Isle of Wight, September 30. — From the ' Intelligences 



Note on Centra bicuspis. — I found a number of the deserted dwellings of Cerura 

 bicuspis yesterday, the 7th. Was it not a day of humiliation ? — John Scott; South- 

 field Villas, Middlesbro '-on-Tees, October 8, 1857. 



Petasia nubeculosa in Scotland. — Although the modesty of our collectors will 

 doubtless be in some degree outraged by the publication of the successful result of 

 their most meritorious labours, I feel compelled, as an impartial chronicler of ento- 

 mological events, to state that an unusual number of this most desired species 

 have been taken during the past summer. The specimens are in remarkably good 

 XV. 3 Q 



