36 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



rFEBRUARY 



The same remarks apply to A. villica. — E. Sabina, The Villas, Erith, 

 24th January, i8gi. 



Abundance of B. rubi larv^ — I had a fortnight in Sutherland- 

 shire in September ; but the wesather was miserable, and I saw very 

 few insects on the wing, though larvae, such as B. riibi, A. fuliginosa, 

 and others, were plentiful. B. rtibi swarmed on the heather in Strath- 

 more. You shall have an account of the imagines I captured in my 

 next. — John Mackay, Glasgow. 



Larv.e of Agrotis Nigricans, Tritici, Valligera and Obelisca. — 

 You ask me if I know the larva of A. nigricans, and can differentiate it 

 in appearance and habit from that of Tritici, and Tritici from that of 

 Valligera. Yes ; aside from all microscopy and minute detail, I would 

 describe the general appearance as follows : — 



A. nigricans. — Large, cylindrical ; often deep brown-ochre colour 

 in the dorsal region, with a series of faint lozenge-shaped markings on 

 the back, side rather striped, and a rather distinct whitish line along 

 the spiracles. It eats roots and leaves of red clover, and almost any 

 low plant. It feeds at night, and buries in the soil. 



A. tritici. — Dull, glass-like, much smaller than the last, but stout, 

 slightly attenuate ; it has scarcely any colour — say shiny, dirty greyish, 

 often without noticeable markings. It feeds at night, on weeds, on the 

 sand hills, and may be found during May and June buried at the roots 

 of Cerastitm, about one inch below the surface of the sand. 



A. valligera. — Much larger than Tritici, slightly striped; colour 

 dull olivaceous, wdth dots between the stripes. Sometimes these 

 stripes and dots can scarcely be traced. 



A . obelisca larva is large ; dorsal streak chocolate colour— not the 

 colour of chocolate paste, but a purplish-brown. I have dug them in 

 Ireland from ledges where little but grass and bird's-foot trefoil grew. 

 These produced large, fine specimens, much larger than Scotch Obelisca, 

 of which I had examples no larger than ordinary Tritici. - C. S* 

 Gregson, Liverpool. 



