96 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



hence their position affords a very trust- 

 worthy barometer : when floating steadily 

 and high up in the air, a continuance of fine 

 weather may safely be prognosticated ; but 

 when close to the surface of the ground 

 (where they are often so dense as to sway 

 and skimmer in the sunlight like a slender 

 silvery sheet, they almost certainly presage 

 bad weather. The spring and autumn 

 aerial flight of spiders bears some analogy 

 to the migration of birds, and is probably a 

 chief means for the dispersion of the young 

 broods from the spots on which they have 

 been bred. — O. P. Cambridge, Bloxworth 

 Rectory, Dorset. 



i8. 



Larva of L. Ilicifolia. — The only des- 

 cription of the larva of L. ilicifolia I know 

 is that of Hubner, as given in " Stainton's 

 Manual," vol. i, p. 158. — R. Prescott Decie. 



This description is as follows : — " Larva 

 grey, with reddish hairs ; a broad black 

 dorsal line, interrupted on each segment by 

 a reddish spot, and a white stripe on each 

 side of it ; a broad, bluish, lateral stripe." 



The following queries have not been 

 answered : we will be obliged to any cor- 

 respondent who can reply to any of them : — 

 Nos. 2, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17. Further 

 discussion on unsettled points will also be 

 gladly received. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



Birmingham Notes. — I expect we shall 

 have another very early spring again this 

 year. Vegetation in general is extremely 

 forward, and birds have been in full song 

 for some time. Rooks commenced to build 

 here last week. Hawthorn was in leaf on 



the 4th February. One specimen of T. 

 piniperda (the pine beauty moth) emerged 

 in my breeding cage on the loth and the 

 first E. lanestris on the. 12th. Hibernia 

 nipicapraria was very plentiful at Knowle 

 about the beginning and middle of January. 

 P. jpilosaria has been out since Cristmas in 

 Sutton Park. — W. Harcourt Bath. 



Note on the early season of 1883. — 

 Feb. 3, Hibernia leucopliearia, Rupicapraria^ 

 progemmaria, and Phigalia pilosj,ria out plen- 

 tifully, and being at Eastham Wood again 

 yesterday, Feb. 21, I found them still fine 

 and plentiful. 



Black currant bushes and thorn hedges 

 breaking into leaf, lilac and gooseberry do., 

 pear blossom swelling and sallow very for- 

 ward : the earliest year I ever knew for 

 vegetation. — C. S. Gregson, Rose Bank, 

 Fletcher Grove, Liverpool, 22nd February, 

 1883. 



Natural History Notes at Bradford. 

 On January 21st we took the first insects of 

 the season, which consisted of three or four 

 specimens of H leuciphearia. Although P. 

 pilosaria is generally the first to put in an 

 appearance here, we did not see a single 

 example. One dead female specimen of H. 

 defoUaria was observed with its ovipositor 

 penetrating the bark of an oak-tree. It had 

 died apparently in the act of oviposition, as 

 a closer inspection revealed the eggs in the 

 crevices of the bark. Insect life reemed 

 very scarce. I searched under stones, &c., 

 for beetles, but only succeeded in finding 

 one specimen of Philo?ithus laminatus. The 

 robin was in lull song, and it was quite 

 pleasant to hear the wild notes of the misseJ fl 

 thrush as he perched on the topmast branch U 

 of the tallest tree. On the 4th February j 

 we took our first P although up j 



to the present time few specimens haveil 

 been seen, but H leucophearia is now quite J| 

 common. — ^J. W. Carter, Bradford. ' 



