Insects. 



6735 



wing-cases bright green, the nervures very prominent; thorax yellowish green; 

 abdomen reddish yellow, with a dark green dorsal line. The perfect insect appears in 

 June and July. — H. Harpur Crewe ; Breadsall Rectory, Derby, September 6, 1859. 



Description of the Larva of Eupithecia denotata. — This larva, in size and general 

 appearance, closely resembles that of E. innotata. It is long, rather slender and 

 tapering towards the head. There are two varieties: var. 1 is green, with three purple 

 dorsal lines, the centre one broad and distinct, expanding considerably on the anal 

 segment, the two side ones very indistinct. Head and prolegs purple. Segmental 

 divisions and spiracular line yellowish. Belly green. Back studded with a few 

 minute white tubercles, interspersed here and there with a black one. Var. 2 is of a 

 uniform purple, with two lines of a deeper shade on each side of the back. It feeds, 

 as far as my experience goes, exclusively on the flowers and seeds of the lesser Burnet 

 saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga), and is full fed throughout the month of September, 

 and occasionally at the beginning of October. It prefers the hedge-sides and banks. 

 It is fearfully infested with ichneumons, not above one in ten escaping. The pupa is 

 enclosed in an earthen cocoon : there are two varieties; the one yellowish green, the 

 other red. The perfect insect appears at the end of June and in July. The larva is 

 by no means rare in the Eastern Counties ; I have also taken it in Derbyshire. — Id. 



Mr. Gregsoris Criticism on the Description of the Larva of Eupithecia assimilata. — 

 I have just been reading Mr. Gregson's strictures (Zool. 6695) on my description of 

 E. assimilata, and I can assure him, with no unfriendly spirit, he must not fear any 

 accusation of presumption from me. I am well aware of the labours he has bestowed 

 upon the genus Eupithecia, and I feel that perhaps no one has so much right to 

 criticize as himself: I only wish he and I were located nearer each other, so that we 

 might have much Eupithecian talk and many a Pug-hunt together. I must, however, 

 stand up in my own defence, and maintain the accuracy of my statements. First, 

 with regard to size, I know not whether there is anything in the soil in the neighbour- 

 hood of Liverpool which causes the larvae of E. assimilata to attain gigantic propor- 

 tions, but in these parts they certainly do not increase in stature according to 

 Mr. Gregson's ratio. Last autumn I took between forty and fifty larva?. Some were 

 ichneumoned, it is true, but the rest certainly were not sickly; they fed well, spun 

 well and turned well, and they were all about the size of the one from which I took 

 my description. But then these were taken in the middle of October, and this Mr. G. 

 says is too late to form a correct idea of their size. However, yesterday (September 6th) 

 I took a stick and umbrella into the garden, and thrashed the black-currant bushes; 

 twenty-six larvee, of all sizes, were the fruits of my labour: those that are full fed are 

 no longer than those I took last October; some have already turned pink, preparatory 

 to spinning up. Secondly, with regard to the dorsal markings: out of toose I took 

 last autumn some three or four had a few small black specks along the central dorsal 

 line, and this was the only approach to a dorsal marking or lozenge-shaped spot which 

 any one of them showed : all the rest were a uniform green colour. All the larvae I 

 took yesterday are green, without a spot or speck. In some localities almost all the 

 larvae of Smerinthus Populi are studded with large rust-coloured spots, whilst in others 

 this variety seldom or ever occurs. May not the same be the case with the larvae of 

 E. assimilata? — Id. ; September 7, 1859. 



Mr. Gregson's Criticism on the Description of the Larva of Eupithecia assimilata. — 

 I read, with very considerable surprise, Mr. Gregson's remarks (Zool. 6695) upon 

 Mr. Crewe's description of the larva of this insect. Mr. Crewe is well able to defend 

 himself, and needs no advocate in me ; but I wish, on my own behalf, to express my 



