1SG8.] 



145 



it could havo fallen. There was no lime tree, I may observe, within twenty yards 

 of the spot. It fed well, aud throve accordingly, till the 27th, on which day, 

 having previously ascertained that its features were still a desideratum in Mr. 

 Buckler's (Lepidoptero-) ancestral portrait gallery, I dispatched it per post to that 

 gentleman to sit — or rather recline — for its likeness. I enclosed in its travelling 

 carriage a piece of dead bramble-stick for its edification, if constructively inclined, 

 en route. Of this it appeared to have availed itself without loss of time, for Mr. 

 Buckler writes me word that, on its arrival at Emsworth next day, it had half 

 buried itself therein, and was hard at work throwing out the dust of its excavation. 

 With some difficulty it was safely withdrawn from its " Adullamite " habitation in 

 " the cave," and duly depicted. Again at liberty, after a slight refection to recruit 

 its strength, it speedily returned to its engineering, which it prosecuted so 

 vigorously, that it soon emerged at the other end of its tunnel, and turned a 

 homeless pupa after all upon the debris of its work on the 1st August. 



P.S. — Thus far the individual A. alni in question j whose capture further set 

 me searching to learn as much as I could of the history of this somewhat eccen- 

 tric species. Perhaps a summary of the results, as gleaned from the pages of the 

 Zoologist, Intelligencer, Magazine, and Entomologist, may interest some of your 

 readers. 



I find the capture of about 75 specimens recorded since 1844 ,• of which 57 

 were taken in the larval and 15 in the perfect state, — the pupa having been met 

 with only three times. The earliest recorded capture of the larva is by Mr. Hawley 

 on July 27th, 1846 (Zool., p. 1659), so that mine on the 20th of the same month 

 must be regarded as exceptionally early, — one of the results of a precocious sum- 

 mer. Mr. Douglas, indeed (perhaps in error ?) writes of it as occurring in the 

 New Forest on oaks in June (Zool., p. 3587). It has been met with at Sutton 

 Park, near Birmingham, as late as September 10th, 1851 (Zool., p. 3334). Mr. 

 Firby, of Wetherby, alone seems to have noticed the earlier stage which I have 

 attempted to describe. He writes (Entom., Sept., 1865, p. 287), " Whilst beating 

 at Bishop's Wood, near Selby, on the 27th of July, I had the good fortune to 

 obtain one lai-va of A. alni, feeding on alder; it was changing its skin for the last 

 time. I must confess I could not make it out until after the change, so totally 

 unlike in colour, and also minus the clubbed hairs, with the exception of two very 

 small ones on the second segment." The trees and bushes, from which the larva 

 has been taken, and upon which it is said to have fed, have been oak, elm, alder, 

 hazel, hawthorn, beech, lime, Spanish chestnut, horse-chestnut, sycamore, black 

 poplar, sallow, willow, and bramble ; apparently showing a general preference for 

 the four first named. It has also been picked up upon buckthorn, holly, dock, and 

 grass ; upon gateposts, walls, palings, and, lastly, upon a gentleman's coat. At 

 least a dozen seems to have chosen a death by starvation to the prison-fare offered 

 them. 



Whimsical as appear to be its tastes in the matter of diet, its vagaries in 

 entering upon the next stage of its existence are even more remarkable. In fact, 

 it would seem to set about the work of pupation without any fixed rale or principle 

 of proceeding, at least in a state of captivity. Thus (premising that rotten wood 

 for the formation of its cocoon seems generally to have been regarded by its captora 



