212 
THE SUBSTITUTE. 
from between their eyes when 
they are emerging from the pupa.) 
After being marie up some days I 
wished to see if they had changed 
into pupae ; I took a penknife and 
carefully cut the top off the 
cocoon, hut they did not approve 
of such burglarious treatment, as 
they began to remedy the evil by 
making up the aperture by smear- 
ing the edges, (not weaving it as 
aforetime), until all was snug 
again. In a fortnight or so I 
again cut the top, and the three 
that I left to Nature had changed 
to pupae, and strong and healthy 
they looked as they wriggled in 
their cots ; but the last of those I 
experimented on I found a mass 
of putrid matter. I therefore felt 
convinced that I was right in my 
conjecture that the skin was re- 
quisite for the well-doing of the 
larvae, which I again proved in 
1856. And to finish the lament- 
able history, I may briefly say that 
out of 180 larvae I only got 11 
good specimens of the perfect in- 
sect. — J. A. Wasse, 26, Upper 
Brook Street, Manchester. 
Melitaa Cinxia and Agrotis 
saucia . — Seeing so much in ‘The 
Substitute’ at pages 130 and 132 
of the prodigious capture of 3Ie- 
litwa Cinxia in the Isle of Wight, 
and its irregular appearance, and 
being the person alluded to, 1 may 
be able to elucidate the circum- 
stance. I commenced taking this 
species about the end of May, and 
continued till the middle of July, 
numbering something more than 
300 specimens, and it must be 
understood that the undercliff is 
considerably later than any part 
of its coast (that is in its insect 
productions). With respect to 
Agrotis saucia I took it at a much 
later period (50 specimens) than 
that of its regular occurrence in 
other parts of the coast, which 
specimens I forwarded for exhibi- 
tion at the Northern Entomologi- 
cal Society’s Meeting in October 
last. — Edward Smith, Turkey 
Street, Worcester ; February 4, 
1857. 
Acronycta Salicis not a distinct 
species . — At page 7 of ‘ The Sub- 
stitute’ I state that I believe A. 
Salicis to be only a variety of 
Rumicis. This statement brought 
me a reply from J. C. Dale, Esq., 
which induced me to send him my 
specimens for examination, and it 
turns out that the Salicis of our 
Northern collections is not the 
Salicis of Curtis. As I saw simi- 
lar specimens to mine in collec- 
tions in this neighbourhood before 
commencing my present collec- 
tion, I took it for granted that 
ours was the Salicis of Curtis, or 
I should not have made the 
above-named statement. Mr. 
Dale says with good reason that 
if Salicis is a variety at all, it is a 
variety of Menyanthidis ; that he 
was with Curtis at the time he 
found the larvaj from which they 
were bred ; that he also found 
three larv®, and reared one moth 
exactly like Curtis’s figure of Sa- 
licis. Curtis wtis more fortunate 
and bred several, and one Afeny- 
antkidis amongst them which 
puzzled him. The larvae were 
found on sallows at the Trossachs, 
and they had no other larvaj. The 
figure Curtis gives was drawn at 
the time at the inn at Trossachs. 
Mr. Dale thinks the only only way 
to settle the question is for some 
one to go to the Trossachs and 
take the larvaj, but I feel sure that 
you will all agree with me in say- 
