the weekly entomologist. 
196 
going to ground the second and 
third week in July, and the perfect 
insect appearing on the first week in 
August. To this is appended an 
editorial note stating that “this is 
an accident, not a rule.” I have 
now a few pupae of 8. populi bred 
from ova produced by a female 
caught in May, I have also one pupa 
and one full-fed larva of S. pavonia 
minor. In the “ Manual ” the time 
for finding’ the larvae of S. populi and 
S. pavonia minor is said to be Au- 
gust and September. — C. Holford, 
W ire. 
Habits of Gracillaria Imperialella. 
— Through the kindness of Dr. Ross- 
ler, of Wiesbaden, I have received 
some larvae of the much-wanted 
Gracillaria imperialella. The fol- 
lowing observations by Dr. Rdssler 
may, perhaps, tend to the more ex- 
tensive discovery, in this country, of 
the insect : — 
“ The larva at first forms a small 
mine in the leaves of Orobus niger, 
but soon, whilst still very young, 
extends its mine so much as to 
loosen the entire underskin of the 
leaf, and forms a large air bladder. 
As the leaf would thereby soon dry 
up and come together, the eggs are 
only laid on those plants which ai’e 
not exposed to the sun ; at least, I 
find imago and larva only in shady 
and rather moist places, on the 
borders of woods facing north, where 
the plant grows under overhanging' 
bows. The larva , which at first is 
almost colorless, becomes green when 
only half grown; and, sometimes, 
before its final transformation, it is 
tinged with brick red.” 
In this country it probably feeds 
on Orobus tuberosus. — H. T. Stainton, 
Mountsfield, Lewisham, July 20, 1863. 
Heath Feeders. — The following 
remarks may be useful to such of 
your readers as contemplate rearing 
heath-feeding larvae : — 
I have long had the idea that 
the difficulty experienced by those 
who endeavour to breed Agrotis 
agalhina was due to the larva having 
a preference— at-any-rate, after a 
certain period of its existence — for 
some other food than heather. Some 
time ago Mr. Piffard brought to me, 
from the New Forest, two live 
females of B. cinctaria , a sup- 
posed “ heath-feeder,” from which, 
by sustaining them with honey and 
water, I obtained a g'ood many egefs ; 
on these hatching, I gave the young* 
larvae the choice of heather, sallow, 
and Polygonum persicaria. Scarcely 
any took to the former, very few to 
Polygonum, nearly all to the sallow, 
upon which they continued to feed 
freely until they went down to pupa. 
Eggs of another “heath-feeder” 
( Eulepia cribrum ) were lately sent 
to me by Captain Russell and Mr. 
Raker, of Brockenhurst. In this 
instance the young larvce chose be- 
tween heather, sallow, and Polygonum 
