THE ENTOMOLOGISTS WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
67 
occasion. I should he glad to know 
whether any of your correspondents have 
noticed this phenomenon, either in Liba- 
trix and Gotliica (in which species alone 
I have detected it) or in any other in- 
sects. — Rev. E. Horton, Wick, Wor- 
cester; Nov. 18. 
Bad Success at Sugar. — My letter has 
produced various theories and remarks 
upon sugaring. Some gentlemen think 
my bad success has been owing to my 
“ mixture” not being of the right sort. 
In reply to this, I can only say that one 
would think the syrup which attracted 
moths in June would also do so in July 
and August. Others lay the blame on 
the great abundance of wild dowers this 
year. This may have something to do 
with it, but yet there is no such very 
observable difference in this respect 
(at all events in this part of the country) 
between this and previous years. My 
own theory (not that it is worth much) is 
that the three weeks of very fine and hot 
weather in June so dried up and hardened 
the ground as to kill an immense number 
of moths then in chrysalis. Some of your 
correspondents are loud in their praises 
of ivy and pupa digging. With regard 
to the former I can safely assert that, 
bad as sugaring is, ivy is worse, as I 
treacled (I use treacle and rum) one 
night within 200 yards of some fine 
bunches of ivy in full flower, which I 
carefully examined and watched, after 
putting the syrup on the trees, for a con- 
siderable time: I only saw one moth at 
it, which I caught (it turned out to be 
that great rarity (?) P. Meliculosa, and, 
as to beating the ivy, it was of no avail 
at all. At the treacle, on the other hand, 
I found five Oxyacanthce : thus treacle 
heat ivy to fits as to the quantity taken, — 
as to the quality of the moths, they were 
on a miserable par. With respect to 
pupa digging, I must refer your readers 
to the ‘Zoologist,’ p. 5538, where Mr. 
Edleston remarks on the uselessness of 
digging on his side of Cheshire : his ob- 
servations apply equally to these “ dig- 
gings;” and I will only add that if 
Government wants a substitute for the 
crank in gaols, I can conscientiously re- 
commend pupa digging in Cheshire, as 
combining a maximum of labour with a 
minimum of result. — A. 0. Walker, 
Chester ; Nov. 17. 
Winter Food for the Noctuce. — Since 
I wrote last I have found the common 
Noctuce, such as Ceraslis Vaccinii and 
S. Satellitia, feeding freely on the berries 
of the wild rose: they seem to prefer 
those berries which have been pecked at 
and partially eaten by birds, as on such 
I have seen two, and even three, moths 
on one berry ; but they do not flinch 
from attacking the sound berries, and 
they seem to have the power of piercing 
the skin, as several that I examined while 
feeding had the proboscis inserted into 
the berry by means of a slit made in the 
skin. This kind of food might, I should 
think, be visited by the hybernating 
Noctuce all through the winter, when the 
weather is mild. — Thomas Linnell, 
Redstone Wood, near Reigate ; Nov. 15. 
The Begging- Letter Nuisance. — Thanks 
for the heading of a communication in 
the last ‘ Intelligencer,’ “ Don’t apply for 
what has not been offered.” I wish to 
send you a list of my captures this season, 
with remarks upon them, but I quite 
tremble ; notwithstanding the caution and 
warning I gave about my last-announced 
capture, would you believe that I was 
asked for it ? When I have duplicates, 
it gives me great pleasure to supply 
others, but my time is too valuable to 
write answers to all the begging letters 
which arrive uninvited. — M. A. ; Nov. 18. 
[M. A. is too polite, if he attempts to 
answer the uninvited begging letters re- 
ferred to ; he should enclose them in an 
unstamped envelope and return them to 
the writers : it is the only way of curing 
the impudence of some people.] 
Lasiocampa Quercus. — If Mr. W. C. 
Turner has not got a supply of the above 
