Insects. 



6383 



it beaten from birch. A. auricoma certainly does not tike its name from the larva, 

 the hairs of which are sooty black. A. leporina is not confined to birch and black 

 poplar; I have taken a score or more of the larvae upon alder, and have several times 

 seen it upon the Ontario poplar: the pale green larva with white hairs is not confined 

 to poplar; I have frequently beaten it from alder, and still oftener from birch, both in 

 Kent and Derbyshire: I never met with more than three specimens of the canary- 

 coloured variety (if variety it be) ; one of them was feeding upon aspen, the other upon 

 birch. At Cambridge the larva of S. tridens used to be rather common in October on 

 the whitethorn hedges at the back of the colleges. — H. Harpur Crewe ; Drinkstone, 

 Wool pit, Suffolk, January 14, 1859. 



Larva of Heliothis marginata. — It may be interesting to Mr. Brockholes (Zool. 

 6338) to know that the larva of Heliothis marginata is common in some parts of 

 Suffolk. All the varieties he mentions occur, and in the same ratio as to rarity, var. 

 No. 3 being far the most scarce. I have taken this larva in various parts of England 

 for some years past, but never upon anything except the thorny rest-harrow (Ononis 

 campestris, Koch) ; it eats the seeds and flowers, seldom, if ever, the leaves; I never 

 saw it upon O. arvensis ; I have been told that it feeds upon various species of 

 crane's- bill, but with what truth I know not. That it does feed upon other plants than 

 Ononis campestris I am almost sure, for I have taken the perfect insect at sugar in a 

 locality where little or no Ononis of either species occurred. I was once travelling 

 about with a number of these larva?, and located for a time in a village where no 

 Ononis grew ; after trying various experiments I found that they fed freely upon the 

 unripe seeds of the sweet pea. The perfect insect, when bred, is almost always 

 dwarfed. — Id. 



Larva of Tceniocampa cruda. — The caterpillar fastens two leaves together, lying 

 curled up between them during the day-time. I thought it must be, at least, a good 

 Ceropacha, and went on collecting them till I bad " amassed" about two hundred. I 

 shall not soon forget ray disappointment, as day after day my friend T. cruda emerged. 

 My suspicions had already been grievously excited, by observing that the larva entered 

 the earth to effect its transformation ; the whole of the genus Ceropacha, if I mistake 

 not, spinning up between leaves, or in moss, &c. The larva is extremely variable, and 

 though preferring oak, will readily feed on hazel and sallow. The pupi may be found 

 from the beginning of July to March. — Joseph Greene in the '■Naturalist? 



Larva of Tceniocampa cruda. — This larva appears more than any other to delude 

 and annoy the collector. The protean variety of its colours beats all description. I 

 found a variety this year and last, which was pale green with a very pretty orange and 

 red spiracular stripe. In addition to its other troublesome qualities the wretched larva 

 is a cannibal. — H. Harpur Crewe ; Id. 



Larva of Orthosia Upsilon. — I have taken the larva of this insect in some numbers 

 near Stowmarket, when sugaring just after dark, crawling up the pollard willows, and 

 occasionally upon the stem of the black Italian poplar. It conceals itself during the 

 day amongst the grass and roots at the foot of the tree, or under a piece of loose bark, 

 and as soon as it gets dark, climbs up to feed on the leaves. It is a dark dingy blackish 

 larva, and is full-fed about the 7th of June. It feeds most voraciously, and attains its 

 full size with marvellous rapidity. It remains a very short time in the pupa state, 

 sometimes barely three weeks. In confinement all my larvae buried, and spun a cocoon 

 under the surface of the soil. — Id. 



Larva of Orthosia lota. — The egg would appear to be laid on the bud, as the larva 



