60 
THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
the larva state. — H. T. Stainton ; May 
17, 1856. 
Noctuce flying by day. — Mr. Douglas 
I see wishes for corroboration of the 
fact of Noctuae flying in sunshine. On 
the 7th of April I took a Tceniocampa 
cruda flying in the bright sunshine over 
the blossoms of a plum tree, about 1 1 
a.m.: I have also several times taken 
Hydrceda mivacea and Leucania coni- 
yera hovering over flowers in the bright 
sunshine, and in one instance Hadena 
suasa. — H. Hakpub Crewe, Horn dean, 
Hants; May 14, 1856. 
Lepidoptera recently bred. — Between 
April 7th and May 3rd I have bred three 
Notodonta ehaonia from larvae beaten off 
oak, near Tring, in July, and four Clos- 
lera cur tula from larvae, on aspen, taken 
near Eltham, in October; four Ennomos 
illustraria from larvae beaten off beech 
in September and October, and two En- 
nomos lunaria from larvae respectively on 
elm and hazel. Does the larva of En- 
nomos illustraria feed upon bij-ch or oak 
in its wild state ? I never but once beat 
it off anything but beech, and that ex- 
ception was maple. On the 1st of April 
I bred a specimen of Eupithecia corona- 
ria : the larva, to the best of my remem- 
brance, was a pale green, and slightly 
hairy ; it was beaten off maple in Sep- 
tember. I am now breeding Eupithecia 
satyraria and piperaria from larvae taken 
last September and October, feeding 
upon the petals of various flowers : when 
they can get it they seem to prefer the 
flower of Gentiana campestris, which is 
sometimes abundant in the locality where 
I find them. Last year, however, the 
plant was very scarce, and they ate indis- 
criminately every other flower. I have 
this morning bred Eupithecia venosaria 
from larvae taken in July, in Derbyshire, 
on the seeds of Lychnis dioica and Si- 
lane inflat a. — Inin. 
Notodonta I'repida (Lep.). — On the 
6th of May I took a beautiful male No- 
todonta trepida on the stem of an oak, 
near Horndean, and on the 8th a female 
slightly worn : she has laid me nearly 
100 eggs, which will, I hope, prove fer- 
tile. — Ibid. 
Why do Lepidoptera, recently hatched, 
hang their icings dowmvards P — Those 
who are in the habit of breeding Lepi- 
doptera are aware that on emerging 
from the chrysalis the wings of the imago 
are small and soft, and it is some time 
before they are fully developed : during 
this time the insect remains with its 
wings hanging over its back. I have 
always understood that this was the na- 
tural effect of gravitation on substances 
so soft and flexible ; and, as far as my 
experience goes, this seems the natural 
solution of the habits of all the Macro- 
Lepidoptera; but several times, when 
breeding Nepticula;, I have found them, 
just after coming out, either on an in- 
clined surface with their wings sloping 
upwards, or on a flat surface with their 
wings up over their back. 1 have never 
seen them place themselves in this posi- 
tion, and so of course the observation is 
incomplete, and if you, or any ol your 
correspondents can either complete it, or 
give a satisfactory solution to it, I shall 
be much obliged. — T. Boyd, 17, Clapton 
Square; May 13, 1856. 
New Coleophora larva (Lep.). — Mr. 
Wailes sent me last week a larva of a 
Coleophora feeding on Genista anglica ; 
it is one I never saw r before ; the case is 
whitish, and in form something like that 
of C. viminetella. As the plant is com- 
mon at Waustead and other heathy 
places, perhaps some Londoner may now 
be able to find it ; it blotches the small 
leaves of this Genista, making them 
whitish. — H. T. Stainton; May 19, 
1856. 
New Elachista larva, (Lep.). — Mr. J. 
Scott has found, near Stockton, a larva 
referable to this genus, mining the leaves 
of the Blue Moor-grass ( Nesleria Guru- 
