Insects. 



6063 



some Eupithecia cognata. Having fortunately obtained the eggs of 

 E. subfnlvata,* from a worn specimen captured at Duddingston, at the 

 same time that Mr. Wilson kindly furnished me with those of E. cog- 

 nata, I have no hesitation in saying, from the results of a careful 

 comparison of the larvae in all their stages, that they are the same 

 species, and feed on the same plant, the common yarrovr {Achillea 

 MillefoUiim). With regard to the other supposed variety, E. succen- 

 turiata, I can say nothing, as I have not seen the larva, which is said 

 to feed on the seeds and flowers of Artemisia maritima. Should it 

 prove to be the same species, the last mentioned, being Linneus's 

 name, must be retained for the insect. 



In August and September many larvae of Eupithecia assimilata were 

 found at Duddingston, on black currant {Bihes nigrum). The insect 

 stands already in our list, and had been bred by Mr. Wilson, under 

 the name of E. minutata; but the latter species is said to feed upon 

 heath, and to frequent uncultivated localities, while the former is 

 always found in gardens. 



During the autumn of 1855 I received a few eggs of Coremia 

 olivata from the neighbourhood of Loch Rannoch : they hatched 

 shortly after I received them, and the young larvae fed on the different 

 species of Galium, passing the winter without feeding, and com- 

 mencing again early in the spring. The full-grown larvae were dingy 

 brown in colour and remarkably hispid, bearing no resemblance to 

 Keaumur's " Arpenteuse qui vit de feuilles du freneT About the 

 same time Mr. Wilson obtained the larvae of Coremia munitata from 

 the egg, but only one survived the winter : it resembled very closely 

 the larva of C. montanata. 



Having likewise received fertile eggs of Erebia blandina from Ran- 

 noch, I placed the young larvae in a glass cylinder, having the upper 

 end covered with a piece of muslin, and the lower end placed in a 

 flower-pot containing several species of growing grasses, and exposed 

 the whole to the weather in the garden. Here I had the satisfaction 

 to perceive that the young larvae throve apace, and before the hard 

 weather set in they were about three lines in length, of the usual form 

 peculiar to the Satyridi ; and when resting, as they generally did, 

 near the roots of the grasses, they resembled the withered sheaths so 

 closely as to be almost undistinguishable. In this position five of 

 them survived the winter, but the last of these died on the 19th May, 

 1856 ; and 1 have been still more unsuccessful in a second attempt, 



^ See 'Zoologist' for 1857, p. 57H). 



