THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



831 



TO CORRESPONDENTS, 



rl. M". Parish, Taunton. — Thanks for the 

 ichneumons from Tortrix viridana, which we 

 will name shortly. Among some you sent 

 us before was Ichneumon nigritdrius from 

 pupa of Thecla quercus, but you had made an 

 error somehow, r or one marked " from larva 

 of S. populi" is a Saw-fly, which we need 

 not tell you are not parasitic. We are 

 obliged also for the pupa from M . brassica 

 larva?. They are evidently dipterous, and 

 shall be named when they emerge. Your 

 pug is E. absinthiata, and is not an uncom- 

 mon species. The larva feeds on the 

 Mowers of golden rod, yarrow, hemp 

 agrimony, &c. 



W. D., Coventry, last week, should have been 

 E. F. Nicholls, Coventry. 



O. F. W., Birmingham.— Botys verticalis is one 

 of the Pyrales which are generally placed 

 after the Noctua. We know no English 

 name by which it is known in any part of 

 this country. We find some difficulty in 

 sending your colored plates. How do you 

 get your paper ? If we could send it 

 through the same channel it would travel 

 better than as a single plate. Our British 

 Butterflies seems to give satisfaction : we 

 are supplying sixty persons with colored 

 plates. 



[n copying Mr. Porritt's note (p. 315) for the 

 printer we inadvertently wrote F.L.S. 

 after his name. He objects to this, saying 

 it looks as if he had put it there himself. 



Since writing the leader of last week we have 

 decided to issue a working men's edition of 

 our Birds and Eggs at half-price, viz., 6d. 

 per part for the Birds or Eggs separate, 

 and is. for the two together. The work 

 will be begun as soon as a sufficient num- 

 ber of subscriber's names are obtained, and 

 will be sent out post free. We should be 

 glad of notes or local lists of species from 

 any part of Britain for the purpose of 

 incorporation, and especially particulars of 

 any interesting varieties. Will our readers 

 bring it before the notice of Oologists and 

 Ornithologists ? 



EXCHANGE. 



i Duplicates : — Polyodon,A . Lubricipsda, C caja, 

 \ Z. Fi'iipendula, Larva 0. Bidentata, A. Lubrici- 

 I peda, 2. Caja, E. Jacobea, and pupa of latter. 

 J Desiderata : — Numerous. — A. Bramwell, 

 Prior Street. Gateshead-on-Tyne. 



CAPTURES, NOTES, &c. 



Killing and Mounting Small Ichneu- 

 ; mons. — I have no doubt but that Mr. Walker 

 will give you his way of killing and setting- 

 small ichneumons, his method may be dif- 

 ferent from mine, but your readers may wish 

 to have the experience of others. I have 

 ; adopted the plan of killing recommended by 

 1 Dr. Capron in The Entomologist for February 

 1 last, i, e., I take a large basin of boiling water, 

 J and invert the bo:: over it, give it a tap so 

 that the insect may be jerked into it, and in 

 most cases it will die with the wings and legs 

 expanded, if it is a single specimen I imme- 

 diately remove it into a bath of spirits of 

 wine into which a very little corrosive sublimate 

 is dissolved, to preserve it from mites ; but 

 supposing I have a dozen or so to mount I 

 kill them at the same time, and remove them 

 into rold water until it comes to their turns 

 for the spirit of wine bath. The spirit should 

 be of full strength, and not methylated. I 

 I then remove them from this bath by floating 

 I them on apiece of glass, with the back down- 

 1 wards, and with a sable hair pencil carefully 

 j place the wings, legs, and antenna? into 

 I position, then place it aside for about ten 

 j minutes to allow the spirit to evaporate, 

 when it can be very easily removed, and 

 mounted on card with gum tragacanth. 

 j The cards I use are " John Dickinson & Co's. 

 Extra Superfine Cards," size 3 \ inches by i\, 

 cost 4d. per packet of 50, they are beautifully 

 white these I have cut across into six parts, 

 about five-eighths of an iuch in width. — 

 G. C. Bignell. 



[Mr. Bignell has sent us specimens of an 

 Apalanies ( ?) from V. Atalinta, whichforstyle 

 of mounting are unsurpassable. The card is 



