42 



irregular patches of white; the chrysalis is brown, marked with blackish points. For a 

 more minute description the reader is referred to the report for 1878. 



The Abbot Sphinx (Thyreus Abbotii). 



This pretty sphinx moth has been captured in London, during the present season, by 

 Mr. J. M. Denton ; it has also been taken in Hamilton, by Mr. Moffat and Mr. David 

 Little, and is reported as having been common there. The caterpillar (see fig. 20) feeds on 



~0 





-- . - . " ■ 







iHfci: aid? 1 -VJ^ 



. _ . - ^- — " ■ 







Fig. 20. 



the grape vine, and also on the Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia). In place of the 

 horn at the tail which caterpillars of this family usually have, there is, in this instance, a 

 polished knob or tubercle. The colour of the larva varies from a dirty yellowish to a 

 reddish brown, marked transversely with fine black lines, and lengthwise with patches of 

 a dark brown shade. There is also a dark line along each side. The under surface is 

 paler, with a reddish tinge along the middle. 



The moth (fig. 20) is of a dull pale brown colour, the fore wings variegated with brown 

 of a much darker shade ; the hind wings are yellow, with a broad blackish border. Both 

 wings are notched on the margin. 



NOXIOUS INSECTS IjST ENGLAND. 

 By the Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, M.A., Port Rope, Out. 



By the kindess of the writer, Miss E. A. Ormerod, E.M.S., I have recently received 

 her "Notes of Observations of Injurious Insects" for the years 1877, 1878 and 1879. 

 These reports contain so much of interest and value that I have thought it desirable to give 

 to our readers some extracts from them that bear upon our own insect enemies, and at the 

 same time draw attention to the valuable work that is being quietly done in England by a 

 band of volunteer workers who, apparently, receive no recognition or encouragement from 

 the Government or the general public. The plan pursued has been to send out a circular 

 in the spring of the year, to a large number of observers scattered over Great Britain, 

 and to recommend to them a list of insects for observation during the season. The replies 

 sent in in the autumn are carefully collated by Miss Ormerod, and the systematized results 

 published during the winter in an octavo pamphlet, illustrated with excellent wood cuts. 

 It is pleasing to observe a steady growth in these reports ; that for- 1877 contains 19 pages 

 and 12 cuts ; that for 1878, 27 pages and 20 cuts ; and the last, 44 pages and 27 cuts — 



