THE SUBSTITUTE. 
11.3 
furnish himself with these ami ex- 
amine the insects according to the 
above rule; by so doin" he will by 
degrees remm'e the obstacle, and 
by-and-bye become familiar with 
entomological language. — H. 
Scott, Labourer, Eaves Lane, 
Chorley, Lancashire^ Decembers, 
1856. 
Leiocampa Dictcea. — At page 5 
of ‘ The Substitute’ Mr. Cavtmel 
tells us that he took fifty brown 
and green larv® of Dictcea,. which 
fed exclusively on birch. Will he 
pardon me for asking whether he 
is certain of their being Dictcea P' 
I never knew the larva of that 
species to feed on birch. — Rev. J. 
Greene, Playford, Ipswich. 
Forcing Lepidoptera. — At page 
69 of ‘The Substitute’ I observe 
Mr. Clarke asks for any informa- 
tion respecting the forcing of Le- 
pidoptera. VVhen desirous of ob- 
taining early specimens of any in- 
sect I put the pupffi into a box 
with a very thin layer of earth, about 
February. The box I place upon 
the chimney-piece, iu a room 
where a fire is burning all day, by 
which means I have obtained spe- 
cimens many weeks before their 
usual time of appearance in the 
perfect state, as for example ; — A. 
megacephala on the 8th of April ; 
D. capsincola on the 11th; C. Ver- 
basci on the 14th; S. Ligustri, 
C. curtnla, N. clodoncea and Ca- 
melina, on the 1 5th, See., Sec. I 
never found any injurious effects 
follow. — In. 
Ldsiocampa Quercus. — One of 
your correspondents slates that he 
never saw or had a larva of L. 
Quercus that made its cocoon in 
the autumn. With two excep- 
tions, I have not bred the insect 
for a long time, but on both these 
occasions it turned to a ptrpa at 
the end of August. One larva I 
found in May (I suppose it had 
hybernated) feeding on bramble. 
It was then fully 2^ inches in 
length, very slender, with rusty 
hairs, and lilac rings. For some 
time it was sulky, but at last 
condescended to eat, spun up in 
August, and came out the follow- 
ing June (end of) a male. Whe- 
ther this be L. Callunce, or not, I 
cannot say, but, with the exception 
of its being a little larger and 
darker, I see no difference between 
it and the ordinary Quercus. I 
must add, however, that there cer- 
tainly are some marked differences 
in the larvce, e.g., the lilac rings, 
which, if I mistake. not, are want- 
ing in Quercus. This larva was 
taken in Suffolk. I will now con- 
clude these rambling remarks with 
an expression of the gratification 
I have received in reading the 
highly interesting and instructive 
notes by M. Guenee, translated in 
the pages of ‘The Substitute,’ a 
feeling in which, I think, all its 
readers will coincide. — In. 
Acrolepia pygmeeana. — Would 
you be so kind as to inform me 
whether Acrolepia pygmeeana is 
double-brooded or not? In the 
‘ Entomologist’s Companion’ I see 
it is said to be in the perfect state 
in May, but I am given to under- 
stand, hy a friend, that a young 
and indefatigable entomologist, of 
the name of Latchford, has bred a 
dozen or two in October this year. 
Can this be true? — H. Jones; 
December 8, 1856. 
[A. pygmeeana is in the larva 
state from July to September; the 
moths appear in October, but rarely 
fly : they hybernate, and fly in 
April and May succeeding.] 
