1808.] 



21 



Cajpture of Delcaster dichriius. — I have recently taken several specimens of this 

 beetle flying about my window here in the evening. — T. G. Bishop, 22, Thurston 

 Road, Lewisham, S.E., Uth May, 1868. 



Note oil Croesus septentrionalis. — In September of last year our alder bushes 

 were defoliated by the larvas of a saw-fly, the leaves being completely eaten, with 

 the exception of the mid-ribs. The larvse, on being approached, assumed a menacing 

 aspect by raising their tails. They were similar in colour to the well-known pest 

 of our gooseberry- and currant-trees, though larger in size. I picked ofi" about a 

 score, and placed them with their food-plants under a bell-glass on a flower-pot. 

 They soon burrowed into the soil, and in the course of a month or so had spun 

 their pupa-cases. These ai-e brown, felt-like, exteriorly glazed, of lighter brown 

 interiorly. The black spotting of the larva is retained in the pupa, so that it looks 

 like a shrunk larva throughout its pupahood. The imago began to emerge about 

 the close of April, just as the alders were beginning to leaf. I naturally expected 

 Hemichroa alniy but it proves to be Croesus septentrionalis. — Peter Inchbald, The 

 Lodge, Hovingham, near York, 



Note on the currant-gall on Salix herhacea. — Last summer, in July, I found on 

 the very summit of Grassmoor, looking down on Crannock Lake and Buttermere, 

 a pretty little willow, Salix herhacea, that clings closely to the bare top of the 

 mountain, rooting itself firmly among the stones, and throwing up here and there 

 its little floss-covered catkins. The leaves of this willow are round, or nearly so, 

 and shining. The gall is formed on the mid-nb of the small leaves, and is 

 about the size of a red-currant. I picked several of these galls and put them in 

 my botany-box. By degrees the leaves withered and the galls turned brown. 

 They were placed in a glass-topped box and occasionally moistened, and left thus 

 till spring. I had little hope of rearing the tenant, having previously failed. 

 April came, however, and one of the gall-insects emerged in the form of a small 

 saw-fly, black, with pale legs. On opening another of the galls I found the pupa 

 of a second insect ready to emerge. Thus another of Nature's secrets is revealed. 

 —Id. 



Mr. Inchbald has kindly placed the saw-fly in my hands. It is a small 

 species of Nematus, but I am uncertain if it have been described. The late Mr. 

 Aa'mistead had also found the gall, but, I believe, had not reared the insect. — 

 R. McLaciilan. 



A list of Eupithecice taken in Derby and the neighbourhood ; with notes. — It may 

 be interesting to some of your readers to know the number of " Pugs " that I have 

 taken in this locality. The following were, with one or two exceptions, taken in 

 the larva state : — E. venosata, in seeds of Silene infiata, July ; E. linariata, in seeds 

 of Linaria vulgaris, July and August j E. pulchellata, in flowers of Foxglove, July 

 and August ; E. centav/reata— I took a female of this species September 8th, at 

 light, and obtained eggs from which I bred a good series ; E. subfulvata, on leaves 

 and flowers of Yarrow, September and October ; E. plumbeolata, on flowers of 



