NOTHS AND QUERIES. 435 
margin, told of their ending. Ibelieve that some other localities were 
infested by great numbers of this insect, and I observed a report in 
the ‘Daily Mail’ of Oct. 12th that “they have been rising in clouds 
at every step on certain commons and gardens in the south of Hamp- 
shire and in Hertfordshire.” That the larva of this insect does any 
considerable damage in marshland I cannot say—no complaints are 
’ made of it to my knowledge; and that it does not confine itself to 
vegetable substances as food Iam assured, for in May, 1906, during a 
long dry period, the larva attacked the earthworms in St. George’s 
Park (in the centre of the town), and both came struggling to the 
surface, the ‘‘ Leather-jacket”’ remaining affixed to the centre of its 
prey, and draining it of the moisture in its body. Hundreds of 
worms thus came to the surface to die. Starlings feed upon both 
larvee and the perfect insect with avidity ; I have seen the gizzards 
of these birds packed with ‘‘Daddy-Longlegs,’ and observed them 
drilling holes in the well-shorn grassy levels of the same little park 
referred to, in order to get at the larvee an inch or so down, and have 
marvelled at the instinct which teaches them to bore in the proper 
spot without loss of time-——ArtHur H. Patterson (Ibis House, 
Great Yarmouth). 
[I witnessed a similar ‘long black wavy line” of the dead bodies of 
these insects either in 1879 or 1883 on the sea margin between Yar- 
mouth and Caister, and also in the month of September.—Ep.] 
Note on the Proboscis or Tongue of Sphinx ligustri.— The beak- 
like projection on the pupe of S. convolvuls and S. ligustrt is gener- 
ally referred to in such a way as to 
leave the impression on the mind of a 
reader that it contains, coiled up likea (7 Fs 
watch-spring, the long proboscis of the aw 
imago. Such is not the case with re- 
gard to ligustvt, and an examination of 
convolvult would probably yield similar 
results. Of the two figures, the upper 
shows in outline the head and thorax 
of the pupa, and the lower shows the 
same with the horny case dissected 
away. The proboscis will be seen to 
make a loop, which lies within the beak, 
and its continuation passes on midway as far as the tips of the wings. 
R. E. RumBetow (Walpole Road, Great Yarmouth). 
[This is not unknown to anatomists, but the point is well worthy 
of reiteration.— Ep.] 
