THE SUBSTITUTE. 
79 
are not acquainted witli this fact to 
: try the plan, as there is almost a 
1 certainty of getting a stock of eggs 
as well as the male moth. — R. 
’H. Feejii.in, Walcringbury ; No- 
tvemher 18, 1856. 
[What are the species you have 
I tried ?] 
jEgeria Bcmbeciformis. — I 
should feel exceedingly obliged if 
any of your readers will favour me 
with its history. I do not under- 
I stand it, although T take the iii- 
I sect every summer in abundance. 
It appears in July on the tiunks 
I of the black poplar, Populus ni- 
,gra. The larv£e seem to feed for 
two or three years, for I can find 
them of various sizes at the same 
lime that the moth makes its ap- 
pearance. I have counted above 
sixty empty pupae projecting out 
of one tree, and I have no chance 
of locating the species on a tree 
that is not infested with it, for ail 
the trees in this locality are in- 
fested with it, more or less. — 
Joseph Chappell, 2, Purlwgton 
Street, Tontine Street, Salford; 
November 19, 1856. 
Odontans mobilicornis. — In the 
answers to correspondents in No. 
3, it is stated that this beetle 
is not given by Stephens as Bri- 
tish, which is correct, but it might 
have been added tliat it is the 
same insect as Bolbocerus mobik- 
cornis of Steidiens’ ‘JManual.' In 
the ‘Proceedings of the Entomo- 
logical Society for 1854 ’ is a 
translation of an interesting ac- 
count in the French ‘Annales’ of 
a successful method of capturing 
this beetle, from which 1 make 
the following extract.-— “ I station 
myself upon a road which is rather 
lower than the field (of luctrn), 
and thus l»y stooping a little I 
have my western horizon , just 
above the stems of the luceru ; 
this circumstance is indispensable 
for success, for it is between eight 
and nine o’clock (in June and 
July) that I find the insect flying 
heavily over the lucern, and if it 
be not projected upon the sky it is 
impossible to see it on account of 
the obscurity. To ensure a suc- 
cessful result it is necessary to 
have a sky without clouds and an 
atmosphere very hot and calm, 
without which the insect does not 
fly. When the weather is favour- 
able 1 take in half an hour four or 
fire specimens, but more males 
than females.” Does “Carabus” 
capture this insect ? — J. W. 
Douglas, Lee, Kent; November 
22, 1856. 
Cerura vinula. — This year I 
obtained sereral larvae of Cerura 
vinula at Battersea. Not having 
seen any before I was anxious to 
rear them, and accordingly placed 
these in my box with the leaves of 
the trees I found them upon. The 
next day I found that not one of 
the leaves had been touched, and 
in a week’s time they were all 
dead, having starved themselves. 
Will you be kind enough to in- 
sert this in ‘ The Substitute?’ per- 
haps some of your correspondents 
can oblige me with the reason of 
it. — Edward R. Priest, 14, Par- 
liament Street. 
An Entomological Ramble in the 
Isle of Wight. 
[Continued from p. 45.] 
We are soon roused, however, 
from our recumbent position in 
the clover by the angry buzz of 
two or three bees (whom we have 
somewhat incommoiied by sitting 
upon), and we hasten to escape 
