6 



The Naturalist. 



confidently hope tliat in a few years we shall know most larvae at 

 sight almost as well as the imagos. To ensure this we have only to 

 work, and to do this thoroughly we shall often have to put up with 

 no little annoyance and trouble. 



Every strange larva we come across ought to be at once " described " 

 to the best of our ability (of course it will require considerable 

 practice to do this satisfactorily), and then kept separate, labelled 

 with the date of its description, &c., to await the appearance of the 

 imago from it. If more than one or two are found, one (one of each 

 variety, should it be a variable larva) ought to be preserved ; or if 

 the captor be a good draughtsman, its portrait should at once be 

 taken. 



Another, and more satisfactory, way is, to obtain eggs from 

 captured moths, and then feed-up the larvae. Many species deposit 

 readily enough in chip-boxes, and others are easily " coaxed " by 

 putting bits of the food (or suspected food, if it be not known) into 

 the boxes. Some, however, are very difficult to manage, and all 

 sorts of schemes have to be devised to get them to part with their 

 eggs ; whilst many— such as the root-feeding Noctuce^ a large number 

 of the Fyrales^ &c. — have thus far baffled lepidopterists altogether ; 

 but even these patience will no doubt gradually bring to light. 



I could write a good deal more on this subject, but I have, I trust, 

 said sufficient to induce at any rate a few to " go in " for this 

 exceedingly interesting part of the study of lepidoptera. 



Huddersfield, July 3rd, 1875. 



Since writing the foregoing, Lord Walsingham has sent me several 

 species of larvee, preserved by himself, which, being mounted on 

 artificial leaves of the food-plant in their natural positions, are much 

 more effective than any I have previously seen. They clearly show 

 what rapid strides this branch of our favourite science is making. — 



G. T. P. 



THE LATE ME. HENRY DOUBLEDAY. 



Every lepidopterist, not only in Britain, but throughout the 

 continent of Europe, will learn with intense regret of the death 

 of Mr. Henry Doubleday, of Epping, which event took place on 

 the 29th of June last. Had he survived three more days, he would 

 have been sixty-seven years of age. For a great many years he 

 had been justly considered the highest authority in Britain, in the 



