THE ENTOIVIOLOGISrS 
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
No. 239.] SATUKDAY, MAY 4, 1861. [Price 
MAY. 
The commencement of May is always 
an exciting time with the entomologist : 
so little has yet made its appearance, 
and so much — so very much — is just 
about to appear. A few warm mild 
days will bring out insects, not by 
hundreds but by millions ! But indeed 
already the hedges are teeming with 
life, but it is larval life. It is im- 
possible to walk leisurely along a 
hawthorn hedge without being power- 
fully struck with the amazing numbers 
of the larvae whose jaws are there 
at work ; and that which we see so 
easily on a hawthorn hedge (because 
it is trimmed and of convenient height) 
is occurring to a greater or less de- 
gree on every bush and tree in the 
country. 
When attention was first directed to 
the larvae of the genus Argyresthia it 
was found that they fed in the un- 
expanded shoots of shrubs and trees, 
and at first it was assumed too hastily 
that this was the normal habit of the 
whole genus. We grew wiser by de- 
grees, and recognised, first, that an 
Argyresthia on juniper might mine the 
leaves and bore the stem ; secondly, that 
an Argyresthia (eonjugella) on mountain 
ash might feed inside the fruit; and, 
thirdly, that an Argyresthia (Glaucinella) 
on oak might feed under the bark of 
the trunk of the tree. Hasty generali- 
zation is almost sure to receive a 
check. But one character seemed to 
pervade these larvae : they were fat 
and rather unwieldy, and in attempting 
to walk they frequently rolled over 
and over. 
Hence it happens that a full-fed 
Argyresthia larva which wishes to quit 
its larval abode in order to spin its 
cocoon never attempts to descend the 
tree or shrub otherwise than by a silken 
rope. Take your seat some fine after- 
noon by the side of a hawthorn hedge, 
between tbe 1st and 10th of this month, 
and you will see the larva of Argyresthia 
nilidella thus descending ; you will con- 
tinually see fresh ones iu the act of 
coming down, and frequently you will 
see ten or a dozen in the act at 
once. 
One of the undetected larvae of the 
genus Argyresthia was Retinella ; the 
perfect insect was known to frequent 
r 
