8210 



Insects. 



It seems scarcely possible that this spring brood of moths can he the parents of the 

 autumnal larvae ; and I cannot help strongly suspecting that, like E. virgaureata, 

 there is an intermediate summer brood, the larvae of which feed upon some other plant. 

 I have never yet been able to obtain eggs of this insect in confinement, and I never 

 took the perfect insect till the day before yesterday (August 19), when I found a fine 

 female sitting upon the wall of a wooden house near a wood, where I am in the habit 

 of taking the larva in September. I conceive this to be an individual of the summer 

 brood. Upon going into the wood, and examining the unexpanded flower-buds of 

 the Angelica, I found eggs of either this species or E. trisignata. — H. Harpur Crewe, 

 in the * Weekly Entomologist,' p. 19. 



Cidaria immanata. — About the end of July my friend Mr. D'Orville bred a very 

 fine specimen of Cidaria immanata, from a larva which he had taken on the 29th of 

 April, feeding on Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry). It was then very small indeed, 

 but fed up well, and became very like the variety of the larva of Cidaria russata, which 

 has no red spiracular line, being, according to Mr. D'Orville's description, of a yel- 

 lowish green colour, with darker green dorsal line and yellow segmental divisions, and 

 furnished with two anal points. That there might be no doubt about the species, the 

 moth has been sent to Mr. Doubleday, and he pronounces it to be undoubtedly 

 C. immanata, and tells us it is the only bred specimen of that species he has ever seen. 

 I see by my note-book that I had several larva? of C. russata brought me this spring 

 — that is, from the middle of March to the middle of April — which had been found 

 feeding on dock and other low plants ; but these were then nearly full-grown, and 

 many of them were changed to pupae by the time Mr. D'Orville found his little larva ; 

 and the moths from them all appeared during the second fortnight of May, C. imma- 

 nata of course at that time still continuing to feed in the larva state. I should not be 

 surprised if it is found that the eggs of C. immanata, though laid in the autumn, do 

 not hatch till next spring, and that in this respect it resembles its congeners, C. pru- 

 nata, C. testata and C. populata, which, as far as my experience goes, remain in the 

 egg till March or April. Any how, I think Mr. D'Orville has given us a clew which 

 may lead, next spring, to this species becoming better known in its earlier stages 

 than it seems to be at present. As to its food, it can scarcely be confined to one plant : 

 probably, like C. russata, this species is polyphagous ; but the chief thing to be noted 

 is the time of its appearance as a larva, and this would seem to be the end of April and 

 the greater part of May, the very time when the first brood of C. russata is on the 

 wing in the perfect state. May I be allowed to append to this note an appeal for eggs 

 or larvae (wanted for figuring) of Cidaria psittacata, C. corylata and C. sagittata? If 

 any one will kindly supply me with any of these species, I will gladly pay all expenses 

 of postage, and make him the best return in my power. — J. Hellins, Exeter, August 

 18, 1862, id., p. 20. 



Occurrence of Lobophora polycommata at Albury. — Two days ago I took a torn 

 specimen of Lobophora polycommata. Are not both the time and place somewhat 

 unusual? — Henry Moore ; Albury, Surrey, September 6, 1862. 



7s Thyatira Batis double-brooded P — Last September I took three very fine speci- 

 mens in perfect condition, and at the beginning of August this year I found two 

 larvae, which I was obliged to leave, having no opportunity then of feeding them. — Id. 



Acronycta Alni at Tavistock. — On the 8th inst. I was at Tavistock, on the occa- 

 sion of the field-day of the Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society, and, having 

 lost the rest of the party, I and Mr. Reading strolled along the banks of the Tovey, 



