211 



NOTES, CAPTURES. &C. 



Entomological Pins. — I have just seen 



the correspondence in the Young Naturalist 

 concerning my Black Pins. Messrs. Gregson 

 and Mathew appear to have found them a 

 failure, while nearly all the principal ento- 

 mologists in England have found them a 

 success. I may say that during the last 

 three seasons I have sold over eight hundred 

 ounces, and have only heard of one case of 

 verdigris. I, myself, have some thousands 

 of Fen Insects (Mucronellus, Phyragmortellus, 

 Gigantellus, Forjicellus, and many cf the 

 Eupicilia) captured in 1S7S and '79. pinned on 

 my black pins, and in only one case have I 

 traced verdigrease, and upon carefully re- 

 moving the specimen I saw that one side of 

 the pin was not enamelled, which was caused, 

 no doubt, by two pins being stuck together, 

 and when separated left one minus the japan. 

 I have shown my boxes of Fen Insects to 

 many entomologists, and they all say they 

 are all that can be desired, and congratulate 

 me upon having hit upon a process to obviate 

 this everlasting annoyance. — E. G. Meek, 

 56, Bromptan Road, London, S.W. 



B. Parthi;nias, &c, at West Wick ham. — 

 This season has already been remarkable for 

 the appearance of some insects. B. part In nias 

 has been unusually plentiful at West Wick- 

 ham, as many as sixteen having been netted 

 in a day by one young collector, with a short 

 net. Several older entomologists took them 

 still more freely. T. crepuscularia was also 

 tolerably plentiful in April on the tree trunks, 

 the commoner species T. biundularia being 

 hardly out yet. A large number of C. villica 

 larva have been found at Wormwood Scrubs 

 and Hendon. On the other hand. A. pictaria 

 and P. hippocastanaria are not nearly -<o 

 abundant as usual. — John Henderson, 150, 

 Graham Road, Dalston. May 10th. 



The Nightingale. — I have noticed an 

 unusual number of nightingales this season, 

 some of them in remarkably fine voice. The 

 first I heard was on Epping Forest. May xst, 

 but on the evening of May 7th. at Combe- 



j hurst and Shirley, near Croydon, many were 

 , in full song. The. next morning, May 8th, I 

 I heard them at Chingford, and other parts of 

 : Epping Forest, very frequently, and in Rich- 

 mond Park, the same evening, several at- 

 I tracted my notice. — John Henderson. May 

 J 10th. 



Notes on Larv.*; of Aporia Cratj:gi. — 

 i I send you a few notes on some larvae of A . 

 I crat.cgi which I have had lately, which may 

 be of interest to yourself or readers of Young 

 Naturalist. The larvae, which were nearly 

 ' full-fed when I received them, were very 

 sluggish, and were generally to be seen 

 ! stretched side by side, and all packed closely 

 J together on a twig of their food, hawthorn. 

 I When they had stripped it of its buds they 

 moved to another, and repeated the process 

 j on it. They ate very slowly, and preferred 

 I the buds on the point of opening to those 

 I already expanded. When about to change 

 ' to pupa?, they all. with one or two exceptions, 

 I fixed themselves to the sides of the box in a 

 vertical position, their heads pointing up- 

 wards. The two above-named underwent 

 j their transformation on a twig. One, which 

 I saw cast off its larval skin, owing to its 

 i great exertions, slipped its head through its 

 silken belt, and hung suspended by its tail 

 j only. I assisted it back to its natural posi- 

 j tion with a camel hair pencil, which was no 

 1 easy matter, as it testified its annoyance by 

 wriggling and twisting in all ways. They 

 ! were mostly from four to six days between 

 suspending and casting their larval skin, al- 

 though one took seven days. The first 

 changed to pupa on May 5th.— G.T. Miller, 

 Gateshead-on-Tyne. 



Primroses. — While gathering Primroses 

 (Primula vulgaris) last year, a pink primrose 

 was found resembling those grown in gardens, 

 and whilst doing the same this year a pure 

 white one was found (except a yellow centre). 

 They were both gathered in a wood upon a 

 chalky soil. Are these varieties common, 

 and are there names for them ? — A. Davis, 

 Junr., High Street. Great Marlow, Bucks. 



