6736 



Insects. 



entire dissent from the statements somewhat dogmatically set forth by Mr. Gregson. 

 He objects, first, to the length given by Mr. Crewe (three quarters of an inch), 

 affirming that his specimens are double that size! A Pug larva an inch and a half 

 long I have never seen ; possibly that of E. togata may be so, but E. assimilata is 

 certainly to be ranked among the small species of this genus. Secondly, he objects to 

 the time specified by Mr. Crewe: the period for the appearance of larvae varies, as 

 every one knows, according to localities and the backward or forward state of the 

 season. Thirdly, he finds fault with the description of the dorsal markings: "When 

 he speaks of a dorsal line, no one would suspect that he was describing the lozenge 

 or diamond-shaped markings which are so conspicuous an object in one or two groups 

 of this genus, and particularly so in E. assimilata." These are the three particulars 

 in Mr. Crewe's description objected to by Mr. Gregson. I am prepared to support 

 Mr. Crewe in every point. I took a considerable number of the larvae last year, at 

 precisely the same period as that named by Mr. Crewe, from which I bred a fine series 

 this spring: I made a carefully coloured drawing of the best marked specimen at the 

 time, and find it to agree, in the minutest particular, with the description given by 

 Mr. Crewe. " No one would suppose," says Mr. Gregson, " that Mr. Crewe was de- 

 scribing the lozenge or diamond-shaped markings, which are so conspicuous an object 

 in one or two groups of this genus, and particularly so in E. assimilata." I will under- 

 take to say that Mr. Crewe would be much surprised if any one did suppose it. T have 

 at this moment some half-fed larvae before me, and I can unhesitatingly affirm that, 

 neither in its youthful or full-grown stage, is there the slightest trace of anything like 

 diamond or lozenge-shaped markings. With regard to the time, as I have already 

 said, that varies according to circumstances: I have some already "gone down," 

 others about half fed, and this morning (September 5th) I have beaten some, evidently 

 only just hatched, so that there is no occasion to suppose that Mr. Crewe was 

 "evidently describing poor, half-grown, sickly larvae." Lastly, with regard to size, 

 Mr. Crewe is not to be understood as saying that every single specimen is exactly 

 three quarters of an inch, and no more, but that that is the average length, and I quite 

 agree with him, as no specimen that I have seen has exceeded one inch, at the utmost ; 

 but perhaps the Lancashire measurements are different from ours. My firm impres- 

 sion is that Mr. Gregson's insect is not E. assimilata at all. I may add that the 

 description in the ' Manual' (vol. ii. p. 89) and the ' Intelligencer' (vol. i. p. 203), as 

 far as they go, tally exactly with that given by Mi. Crewe. In the sixth volume of 

 the last-named work (p. 64) is a communication facetiously representing the ' Zoologist' 

 as the " heavy coach" of Entomology, and, from his signature of a " Fast Man," we 

 are led to infer that the writer considers the * Intelligencer' as the "light" or " fast" 

 coach. There is an old proverb, " Most haste, worst speed," — a proverb applicable, in 

 my opinion, to many of the communications addressed to the 1 Intelligencer,' and to 

 none more so than Mr. Gregson's so-called descriptions of the Eupithecioe. I should 

 not have made this remark were it not that Mr. Gregson takes such a "patronizing" 

 tone. Compare Mr. Crewe's elaborate and minute descriptions with those of Mr. 

 Gregson. The 1 Zoologist' may be a " slow" coach, but it is " steady," and I have no 

 hesitation in expressing my conviction that we have not, in any entomological work 

 whatever, such accurate and careful descriptions of the larvae of the Eupitheciae as 

 those recently given by Mr. Crewe. Mr. Gregson seems to think that no one breeds 

 Pugs but himself. If I mistake not, Mr. Crewe has descriptions of twenty-three 

 species, and I myself have bred eighteen, and am making drawings each year of all I 

 meet with. — Joseph Greene; Cnbfey Kectory, Doverid</e, Derby. 



