THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
117 
safely, without the trouble or risk of 
opening the flags to see where they are ; 
and by being kept in their cocoons they 
are preserved from the danger of drying 
up : I lost but three out of twenty -four; 
that is, only one in eight — a very small 
proportion. 
Agrotis Ripce. From twenty to thirty 
larvae, collected on sand-hills in Septem- 
ber, 1858, I bred on the 10th of June, 
1859, a single Agrotis, which proved to 
be a fine dark variety of this species. 
Why the rest died is a puzzle, for they 
were kept out of doors in a large pot full 
of sand, and fed on growing plants of 
hound’s-tongue, the food on which they 
were found ; however, as A. Valligera and 
Tritici, though captured in May and 
kept in sand, and fed on growing plants, 
lose three-fourths of their numbers before 
the perfect insects appear in August and 
September, 1 suppose this dying off is a 
family failing. The larva from which 
A. Ripce came may be thus described: — 
Ground-colour very variable, from a light 
pea-green to a yellowish grey (one larva 
I noticed which, like Richard the Second’s 
fops, rejoiced in being green for half his 
length and grey the other half) ; dorsal 
line a deep tint of the ground-colour, 
enclosing a very thin light line ; three 
fine waved subdorsal lines, not quite so 
dark as the dorsal, and placed close 
together just above the spiracles; spi- 
racles black, and placed in a band rather 
darker than the ground-colour ; spots 
dark and shining; head and plate of 
second segment pale brown. I think 
some of these larvae hybernate in the 
sand at a depth of several inches ; 
they give over feeding by the end of 
October. 
Dianlhacia Carpophaga. This larva, 
which those who have gardens can feed 
on the seeds of rose campion ( Lychnis 
Cceli-rosa ?), has swarmed this summer; 
one could not pick a dozen flowers of 
Silene infiata without finding their traces, 
and from one little patch I shook out 
scores of them, mixed with Cucubali, 
Capsincola and Eupilhecia venosata. 
D. Cucubali. Must be partially double- 
brooded ; I bred the perfect insect in 
June, 1859, from larvae taken in Sep- 
tember, 1858, and again on the 24th of 
J uly, from larvae taken on the 6th of the 
same month. The larva certainly does 
not from choice eat the seeds of the 
Silene when ripe and hard, but descends 
to feed on the leaves, and may be found 
hidden under the plant, and not, like its 
allies, in the capsules. 
Angerona Prunaria. Three or four 
larvae, beaten from hazel and mountain- 
ash, were for a time a great puzzle : 
their colour agreed pretty well with the 
descriptions of this species, but the dorsal 
humps did not; especially that on the 
ninth segment, instead of being merely 
bifid, was adorned with two long slender 
horns — curved backwards, and this made 
me fancy they might belong to the next 
species. 
O. Pericaltia Sgringaria. These larvae, 
which I have now hybernating small, on 
privet, are most wonderful creatures; 
afflicted from their birth with a most 
dreadful rheumatism or curvature of the 
spine, whether eating, resting or moving, 
they preserve (as far as my observation 
goes) pretty much the position repre- 
sented by Hiibner’s figure, copied in 
Plate 60 of Humphrey and Westwood. 
Other tree-feeding loopers amuse them- 
selves during their younger days by 
swinging at the end of silken cords, 
stiff and straight as pokers ; Sgringaria 
swings, but still keeps its nose and heels 
in close contact, thus combining some- 
thing of the amusement of the low- 
feeders, who love to twist themselves into 
notes of interrogation, figures of 2 and 
capital Qs. 
Amphidasis Betularia. I have seen 
three or four specimens of the green 
variety of this larva, all of which had a 
pink dorsal line, and the humps and 
spiracles of an orange colour. 
