THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
II l 
cimens of Laverna Rasckkiella, and also 
a fine series of Lavema conturbatella. I 
still hope to get Bulalis inspersella. — F. 
O. Standish, 2, Alfred Cottages, Warner 
Road, Camberwell ; June 30, 1856. 
Psyche fusca wanted. — I am very 
anxious to make the personal acquaint- 
ance of the larva and female of this 
insect. The female should be vermi- 
form, that is without legs or antennae. 
Can any of my readers assist me? — H. 
T. Stainton ; July 2, 1856. 
Necydalis umbellatarum (Col.). — 
Through all the lields about here 
the great British public, that will 
not be denied anything, claims a right 
of way, whether it has the right or 
not, as the gaps in the hedges abun- 
dantly testify. The unhappy occu- 
piers of the fields quietly protest against 
the trespassers by filling the gaps with 
substances of as opposing a nature as 
they can, and sometimes so effectually 
that the gap is not reopened for two 
years. Branches of whitethorn are gene- 
rally employed ; and when beating some 
of these rotten sticks one evening last 
week I was pleased to see in the net a 
specimen of Necydalis umbellatarum, and 
subsequently I got three more in the 
same way : hence I presume they were 
reared in the dead wood. I have often, 
but in vain, searched flowers after the 
orthodox directions for this beetle: if 
my supposition be correct it may not 
hereafter be quite so rare in our col- 
lections, and we may learn something of 
its natural history. 1 have used the 
name under which the insect stands in 
Stephens’ 4 Nomenclature.’ Mr. New- 
man refers it to his genus Heliomanes, 
but it is placed in the Siettin Catalogue 
under the genus Molorchus, Fabr. — 
J. W. Douglas, Lee ; June 30, 1856. 
Next) Scent for Sugar. — I was collect- 
ing last summer with a young friend 
who used anise-seed instead of rum for 
his sugaring : it is very attractive to 
moths. He told me he had obtained 
some good specimens by it. — An 
Etonian ; June 23, 1856. 
MISCELLANEA. 
Insects and Plants. 
Theory on Practice. 
At p. 104 of our last number, Mr. 
Westwood says he “was interested, but 
not surprised, to find that many of the 
insects which frequented trees belonging 
to the same natural order were very 
nearly related to each other,” and that he 
thinks 44 the enquiry, if applied to the 
Micro-Lepidoptera, would furnish good 
results on the relationships of allied spe- 
cies ; in Nepticula, for instance, are the 
species which feed upon allied plants 
more nearly related together than those 
which feed upon plants* belonging to dif- 
ferent natural families ?” 
As all practical entomologists very 
soon learn to look on allied plants, for 
allied species we were surprised to find 
that Mr. Westwood should think he was 
suggesting some important truth for elu- 
cidation and investigation. An insect is 
found eating the leaves of one of the 
Leguminosce : search is immediately 
made on other Leguminosce for the same 
species, and in this search a species 
nearly allied to it is found. The same 
thing occurs with the Labiates and Com- 
posite. In the genus Bucculatrix, all the 
species of which the larva were known 
till last year were tree-feeders, oak, elm, 
hawthorn and alder; last year Chry- 
santhemum leucanlhemum is discovered 
to be the food of two species of Buccula- 
trix : this year a third is found on Aster 
Tripolium. 
In species similar in structure, diver- 
sity of habit will prevail : thus Coleo- 
* The words in Italics were accidentally omitted 
in the impression oflast week. 
