00 
THE SUBSTITUTE. 
lavly wiik the larpjcr kinds. 
llaVinfr killed the insect with ox- 
alic acid it is immediale/i/ to he 
cut qjen on the under side with a 
small pair of scissors, and the 
contents carefully taken out: next 
take a piece of soft cotton and 
draw it through the whole length 
of the body, repeating this with 
fresh cotton as long as any 
moisture remains. As most of the 
colours are inside, care must be 
taken not to use too much pressure 
in this part of the operation, or 
else the manipulator will have the 
misfortune to find that he has de- 
stroyed that which he was endea- 
vouring to preserve. As to the 
thorax cotton must be repeatedly 
pressed into it until tlie moisture 
is entirely taken up. I'he abdo- 
men and thorax are then to be 
half filled with magnesia or French 
chalk, and the remaining space 
filled with cotton (lamp cotton 
answers very well ibr this pur- 
pose) ; it is then to be slightly 
tied round to keep it in proper 
form, and the wings, &c., set with 
braces in the usual manner, and 
to be kept in a dry place. By 
adopting the above plan the 
various species of Aischna, Lihel- 
lula, &c., have almost all kept 
their colours unchanged ; the 
brilliant yellow of Cordulegaster 
annulalus seems as bright as 
when the insect was alive. — W. 
Groves, 12, Morden Place, Lexds- 
ham Road. 
Lasiocampa Quercus. — As no 
one has replied in the last Num- 
ber of ‘The Substitute’ to Mr. 
Barrett’s difficulties, on page 40 of 
a previous Number, would you be 
so good as to insert the following 
observations for his benefit. As 
observed in Argyllshire, Lasio- 
campa Quercus lives two years, | 
commencing its existence about il 
the first of .July in the ovum state. | 
The larvae emerge from the shells 1 
in twenty-four days, and by the J 
end of autumn are fully one inch i| 
long. They thus pass their first i| 
winter in the larva state, resting I j 
believe on the heather. They be- | 
come full-grown larvje in .August I 
of the next year, and spin their | 
egg-like cocoons, in which they I 
pass their second winter as pupae. 
The imago appears in the follow- 
ing year from the middle of June d 
to the middle of July. Eggs of l| 
Lasiocampa Quercus laid on July | 
6th w'ere hatched on July 30th. , 
If Mr. Barrett had caught his I 
larvae young enough he would I 
have found that they had no in- 
clination to spin up on the ap- I 
proach of winter. The cocoons of | 
Lasiocampa Quercus are generally h 
found on heaths close to the ! 
ground, while those of Saiumia i 
(\ii-pini are fastened high up on I 
the heather. Our other two spe- I 
cies of Lasiocampa live only half ^ 
the time of L. Quercus, passing H 
the winter as larva;. L. Trifolii i 
I have not seen in Scotland, , 
though the other two species are 
abundant in this district. I am I 
not aware that any of the British i 
Rombycina, excepting Cossus lig- \ 
niperda and Lasiocampa Quercus, 
enjoy an existence of longer dura- 
tion than one year. Any informa- 
tion on this subject illustrating 
the life-bistory of any long-lived 
species is very desirable. — T. I 
Chapman, Glasgow ; November i 
24, 1856. 
Oiketicus Kirbyi. — A good en- 
graving of this insect will be 
found in the volume upon 
‘ Foreign Moths,’ in the Nutu- 
