THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
87 
in the hearts of the Gnaphalium for 
sli'ange larvae, nor were we disappointed ; 
the first that came to light was a very fat, 
rather hairy creature, a trifle too large, 
I thought, fur pomposella, and with a 
general appearance not unlike a Ptero- 
phorus larva ; however, we collected these 
with some eagerness, and it was not till 
the next morning, when I was describing 
the larva, that I discovered it had only 
twelve legs ; this of course at once altered 
the current of my ideas respecting it, and 
I believe I am now correct in referring 
it to Eraslna paula, a small species 
which flies amongst Gnaphalium aren- 
arium, aud is by no means uncommon. 
The next strange larva that we found in 
the hearts of the Gnaphalium is also 
rather a singular-looking creature, but I 
am half afraid it may prove to be only a 
Pyralis larva. On the bushes of Xylos- 
teum periclymenum, in the garden, we 
found the larvae of Gelechia Mouffetella, 
hut not so plentifully as usual. 
H. T. Staixxox. 
Stettin, June 7, 1861. 
(To be continued.) 
THE NEW FOREST. 
Except for a few hours last autumn I 
had not seen the New Forest since 1844, 
until the 23rd ult., when I went to 
Brockenhurst, and entered the Forest by 
the road that leads in a straight line to 
Lyndhurst. Now, as then, you see the 
road for miles before you, and the fringe 
of trees on either side still remains, the 
axe of the woodman not having come 
quite so far, although its effects are ad- 
jacent. These effects are the stumps of the 
oaks felled last year, which project only 
a few inches above the ground. The 
bark still adheres, loosely at lop, tightly 
lower down, and covers the sap, which, 
more dead than alive, forms a fermenting 
paste, smelling strongly of gallic acid. 
It is doubtless this secretion that attracts 
the beetles that assemble under the bark, 
but I fancy that different species like it 
in different stages of decomposition, some 
preferring it quite fresh, and others — 
more of gourmands in their taste — like it 
when it has become “ high ” and savoury. 
On the contrary, there are some species 
that seem to love the narrow subcortical 
quarters simply, on account of their seclu- 
sion ; such is Bitoma crenata, which 
swarms in the driest places, and might 
be seen in the hottest sunshine dancing 
a pas seul over the surface of the stumps, 
darting in the pauses of its gyrations 
into the crevices with which the stumps, 
abound. The very first bit of bark that 
I raised off the very first stump I came 
to disclosed an insect that I caught in 
some abundance in Hainanlt Forest in 
1841 — Pediacus dermestoides, but never 
once since, though I have often sought 
for it; I thought this was a grand be- 
ginning, but it was the ending too, as 
far as this species was concerned, for 
although I spared no pains I could not 
get another. When I came to the next 
stump I looked, I suspect, much as 
Robinson Crusoe looked when he found 
that his island was inhabited, for it ex- 
hibited unmistakeable marks of having 
been worked, and all the surrounding 
stumps gave similar evidence that I was 
only second hand. I afterwards dis- 
covered that by the exigencies of col- 
lecting the “bark” would be converted 
into “bite,” and that beetles would be 
turned inlo farinaceous food. 
Afterwards in another, and unworked, 
lot of stumps I did better, for there I 
took, among other things-. — 
Ips 4-guttata, 
.. 4 -punctata, 
Epuvsea obsoleta. 
