7972 



Insects. 



odorata, Solidago canadensis, Scabiosa atropurpurea (in gardens). It varies in colour 

 according to the flower it feeds on, being whitish and greenish on Clematis, yellow on 

 Senecio and Potenlilla, pink on Eupatorium, and deep purplish red on Scabiosa. 

 I believe it is polypha^-ous. When reared from the egg in confinement it will eat 

 almost any flower that is given it. It has a way of most effectually concealing itself 

 in the petals of the flower upon which it is feeding. I have seen one work itself quite 

 down into the c;ilyx of a flower of Ceutaurea nigra or Apargia hispida. Mr. Stainton 

 is certainly right in saying that the larva of Boarmia repandata feeds upon trees, or 

 rather underwood. Some few years since my friend Mr. Hawker and myself bred 

 several dozen most beautifully marked specimens from larvoe taken by lanthorn-light 

 in the Forest of Bril, Hampshire. The underwood upon which they were feeding was 

 two-years growth, and consisted of blackthorn, whitethorn, crab; aspen, cherry, birch, 

 hornbeam, hazel, sallow and ash. They preferred the three first-named bushes, and 

 were by no means uncommon upon birch. — H. Harpur Crewe; The Rectory, Drayton- 

 JSeauchamp, Tring, March 4, 1862. 



Description of the Larva of Scotosia vetulata. — Short and stout; in form much 

 resembling Cheimatobia brumata. Back and central dorsal line black, the latter 

 bordered with white. Sides yellow. Spiracular line black, broken and unconnected. 

 Spiracles black. Head black ; collar yellow, with a transverse blackish dotted line. 

 Feeds between spun-up leaves of Rhamnus catharticus. Eats the outer cuticle of the 

 leaf, leaving the membrane bare. Full fed the first week in June. Pupa inclosed in 

 an earthen cocoon, long and slender. Abdomen tapering, bright red. Abdominal 

 divisions dark red. Wing-cases paler and more transparent. The perfect insect 

 appears in about three weeks. — Id. 



Description of the Larva of Scotosia dubitata. — Ground colour pale yellowish 

 green. Central dorsal lines, two in number, whitish yellow. Subdorsal lines, two in 

 number, whitish yellow. Spiracular line bright yellow and orange. Backhand sides 

 occasionally studded with a few black tubercles, and always with a few short whitish 

 hairs. Belly destitute of markings. Feeds on Rhamnus catharticus. Full fed the 

 middle of June. Pupa dark reddish brown, inclosed in an earthen cocoon. Perfect 

 iusect appears in about a month. — Id. 



Description of the Larva of Scotosia rhamnata. — Ground colour vivid green. 

 Central dorsal line dark green ; circulation very apparent underneath. Subdorsal 

 lines very slender and indistinct, yellowish. Segmental divisions deep yellow. 

 Spiracular line pale yellow. Subspiracular line pale yellow, slender. On each side 

 of the three posterior segments below the spiracles a broad purple stripe. Anal plate, 

 tip and prolegs deep purple. Belly traversed longitudinally by three whitish lines, 

 the central one broader than the others, and bordered with small yellowish spots. 

 Feeds on Rhamnus catharticus. Full fed first week in June. Pupa dark reddish 

 brown, inclosed in an earthen cocoon. Perfect insect appears in from three weeks to 

 a month. — Id. 



Acronycta Alni bred in February. — On the 22nd of last month a male specimen of 

 this insect was produced from the larva I obtained last August, a description of which 

 was given in the 'Zoologist' (Zool. 7717). The pupa was kept during the winter in 

 a recess near the fire-place of a warm room, which accounts for the appearance of the 

 perfect insect at a period so unusually early. — S. Stone ; Brighthampton, March 17, 

 J <SG2. 



. Economy of Volucella Larva— I have a number of lame of one or more species of 



