Insects. 8787 



feeds for ten or eleven weeks, and is full-fed in June or July, when it buries itself in 

 the earth and changes to a pupa. The perfect insect usually appears in April, some- 

 times in March, I am indebted to Mr. Mawson, of Cockermouth, for this larva and 

 for the information concerning its economy. — Edward Neivman. 



Larva of Acrony eta Alni near Aylesbury. — I have great pleasure in adding one 

 more locality for Acronycta Alni. Yesterday, while walking along a footpath under 

 some trees, a larva of this species dropped on my hat from a large lime tree. A strong 

 wind was blowing at the time. It appears to refuse all kinds of food, having tried it 

 with lime, elm, alder, poplar, willow, sloe, crab, hawthorn, bramble, wild rose, svea- 

 more, oak, &c. It does not appear to be full-fed, and has greatly diminished in size, 

 so that I fear I shall not be able to rear it. — W. E. Parsons ; New Road, Aylesbury, 

 September 8, 1863. 



Description of the Larva of Mamestra Brassicce. — The egg is laid on the cultivated 

 varieties of Brassica, as summer cabbage, brocoli, cauliflower, sea-kale, &c, and the 

 young larva emerges in a few days and immediately commences its destructive career. 

 I am unable to give a precise date for oviposition or for the emergence of the larva, 

 having observed them feeding throughout the summer and autumn ; in a perfectly natural 

 state this larva devours the leaves of almost every herb, particularly the various species 

 of Cheuopodium and Rumex : in the garden it spoils even more than it devours, per- 

 forating the hearts of cabbages, and leaving the galleries it excavates filled with its 

 disgusting frass. When full-fed it rolls in a compact ring if annoyed, and remains in 

 that posture for a considerable time ; when crawling the head is somewhat porrected. 

 The head is scarcely so broad as the body, and partially received into the 2nd segment: 

 body cylindrical, smooth and velvety, the 12th segment slightly incrassated dorsally. 

 Head very glabrous, testaceous, reticulated or marbled with darker brown : body usually 

 divided longitudinally into two equal regions as regards colour ; the dorsal region, in- 

 cluding the spiracles, is olive-brown ; the ventral region dingy yellow; the division be- 

 tween the two colours is usually abrupt and clearly defined, and extends throughout the 

 length of the larva from the head to the anal claspers ; on the back of every segment is a 

 somewhat obscure triangular mark pointing backwards, and rendered more conspicuous 

 by being bounded by a lighter shade ; in each triangle are two white dots placed 

 transversely ; the spiracles are also white ; the legs and claspers are of the same colour 

 as the ventral surface. Such is a description of the normal and more marked colouring 

 of this ubiquitous larva, but it varies infinitely ; in some examples there are evident 

 black dorsal markings on each side of each segment, except the 12th, and on that a 

 large square black patch, of which the hinder and lateral margins are well defined, 

 but not the anterior margin ; in others the olive hue of the back is replaced by a clear 

 brown, and again in others the entire body is of a pale and perfectly uuiform dingy 

 green. The larva changes to a brown and glossy pupa in the earth, and remains in 

 that state throughout the winter ; the perfect insect is on the wing in May, June, July 

 and August. — Edward Newman. 



Correction of an Error. — In the 'Zoologist' for September (Zool. 8702) is a 

 description of a larva from Ireland, under the name of Dianthcecia capsophila : it is 

 described with great care and exactness : the describer has done his best for it : and 

 this description is unquestionably a very good word-painting, an accurate description 

 of one stage of the larva of Dianthcecia carpophaga ; in fact all the Editor has to do 

 in his corrections is to say " for capsophila read carpophaga," and the whole is correct. 

 — C. S. Gregson ; Spring Hill, September 3, 18G3. 



