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Insects. 



Mr. Harding should have condemned it to so hard a fate. The coleopterous conclusion 

 of the matter, however, may hold out a hope that better times are coming.— iJ. Harpur 

 Crewe ; Stoivmarket, September 3, 1858. 



Connexion of Polyominatus Agestis with Helianthemum vulgare. — In the Ageslis- 

 Artaxerxes controversy which is now being carried on in the 'Zoologist,' great stress 

 appears to be laid on the fact that the larva of Agestis feeds on Erodium, while that 

 of Artaxerxes feeds on Helianthemum. That the larva of Agestis does feed on Ero- 

 dium is asserted principally on Zeller's evidence, as it seems Mr. Harding has made a 

 mistake in his larvae. It is certainly presumptuous in me to differ from Zeller, but 

 had any one asked me, before T ever heard of this controversy, on which of the two 

 plants I thought Agestis fed, I should not have hesitated to say Helianthemum. The 

 facts on which I found my belief are as follow: I have taken Agestis in two places in 

 Flintshire ; the first is on a rocky limestone hill overhanging the Talargoch Mine ; 

 here Helianthemum vulgare grows in great abundance, and I am almost certain that 

 Erodium does not occur. At Rhyl, however, which is barely four miles distant, and 

 probably at Prestatyn also, which is only two miles and a half off, Erodium cicuta- 

 rium is abundant on the sand-hills, but no Agestis is to be found. The second place 

 is also on rocky ground, about three miles from Holywell ; here again Helianthemum 

 is abundant, but Erodium is not to be found anywhere in the neighbourhood. So 

 closely does this insect stick to the spot where Helianthemum grows, that in an open 

 place (about two hundred yards from the small space where it is found) which swarms 

 with H. Hyperanthus, A. Aglaia and P. Alexis, I have never seen a single specimen : 

 the two spots are separated by trees. In conclusion, T may add, that I am not 

 arguing that Artaxerxes and Agestis are varieties of the same species, but merely that 

 evidence is in favour of the larva of the latter feeding on Helianthemum vulgare. — 

 Alfred O. Walker ; Chester, September 12, 1858. 



Double-broodedness of the JSotodontidce. — I beg to lay before those readers of the 

 * Zoologist' who may feel interested, the result of my experiments during the present 

 summer and autumn with Pterostoma palpina, Notodonta dictaea and N. ziczac. It 

 was made known through the pages of the ' Zoologist' and ' Naturalist' that I gathered 

 sufficient larva of P. palpina and N. dictsea to lead me to hope I might obtain fertilized 

 eggs of both species the following spring, and thus be able to supply that information 

 as to their double-broodedness which was wanted ; for I may be allowed here to remark 

 that although this double-brooded question has been so long discussed, no one seemed 

 to set about producing proof. The following are the results of my endeavours to sup- 

 ply the want of facts. On May 28 the imago of P. palpina began to emerge, and 

 within the week every pupa produced a moth. I obtained two sets of fertilized eggs; 

 the first batch was laid May 30 and 31, and hatched June 8 and 9; the larva buried 

 June 27 to July 4, and the imago again emerged between July 27 and August 5. 

 Another batch laid June 6 and 7, hatched June 14 and J 5, larva buried July 10 to 17, 

 moths emerged August 5 to 12. A small portion of the first batch was placed out of 

 doors, and remained so throughout ; the hatching and moulting scarcely varied from 

 those in confinement; birds, spiders and storms, however, so reduced their numbers 

 that I only got three into pupa, two of which emerged August 5 ; the third is still in 

 pupa : this and subsequent experience with this and other insects, has satisfied me that 

 mere confinement produces no eff'ect on it whatever. The imago of N. dictaea emerged 

 June 1, eggs were laid June 3 and 4, hatched June 12, larva buried July 13 to 19, 

 moths emerged August 12 to 17. The larvae of both these species were fed on growing 



