igo f December, 
shape to each end of the central divisions ; if approached too closely it relinquishes 
its work until the intruder has retired. When it has entirely completed the outer 
covering of its cocoon, it descends from its elevated position and commences under- 
neath. How this cocoon is formed I am not in a position to say, never having been 
able to follow the larva's movements duiing its construction, A few days after the 
cocoon is completed, the larva turns to a little pale brown coloured pupa, its head 
being furnished with three or four little stumpy spines j the old larval skin being 
ejected from the cocoon. After an interval the pupa's head and anal segment turn 
dark brown, the back of the wing-sheaths also becoming clouded with dark brown, 
its antennae and feet assuming a much deeper tone than the general colour of the 
body, the abdominal segments sink in, but the sides remain slightly raised, and the 
dorsal vessel is visible as a black dash down the centre of the 3rd and 4th abdominal 
segments. In this state it remains, though in a somewhat curved-up posture, until 
the following spring, when the lower half of the wing-sheaths, which at first become 
patched with black dashes, ultimately turn black all over. At this period the 
thorax has a slight bronzy look, surrounded with a darkish tint, and eventually 
the whole of the body changes to a similar colour. From my not having witnessed 
any movement on the part of the pupa, I am inclined to think that it remains 
immoveable throughout the whole period of pupation ; neither am I acquainted with 
the full extent of the imago's life ; one I kept watch over lived nine days, and 
became by that time very feeble, and, had it not been killed by accident, I question 
if it would have lived above a day or two longer. — Chas. Healy, 74, Napier Street, 
Hoxton, N. 
Captures in the neighbourhood of Colchester. — The following is a list of the 
principal Lepidoptera captured in this neighbourhood up to the present date this 
year. It is to be understood that they were not all taken by myself, though I 
obtained specimens of most of them. 
Ehopalocera. 
Anthocaris cardamines (scarcer than usual), Ooneptsryx rhamni (larvae common 
on buckthorn), Argynnis Adippe, A. Euphrosyne (not common), Selene (by no means 
common), ilelitcea Athalia (common, but very local), Vanessa cardui (larvaa common 
on thistles), Limenitis Sibylla (not rare), Satyrus Egeria (common at Hartley Wood, 
St. Osyth), Thecla rubi (larvae on broom), T. quercHs (larvse on oak), Nemeobius 
Lucina (Hartley Wood, St. Osyth), Hesperia Sylvanus (common), H. l/mea. 
Sphingid^. 
Smerinthus ocellatus, S. populi, S. tilia;. Sphinx ligiistri, Chasrocam/pa elpenor 
(bred), Macroglossa stellatarum, Sesia tipuliformis (not uncommon), S. inyopwformiSf 
8. apiformiS) S. bembeciformis. 
BOMBYCES. 
Zenzera .^sculi, Cossus ligniperda, Eepialus hectus (excessively abundant), 
Limacodes testudo (several), Calligenia ')ninia.ta, Lithosia mesomella, L. aureola 
(rarer than usual), Chelonia villica (one specimen, very scarce here), Arctia mendica 
(numbers of larvee feeding), Li2:'ans salicis, Orgyia pudibunda (common), O.fasceUna 
(five larvae on broom), Trichiura cratcegi (larvae on whitethorn), Pwcilocampa 
populi (larvae on oak), Eriogaster lanestris (thousands of larvae), Bombyx neustria 
(getting common again), B. qucrc&s (commoner than usual), Lasiocampa quercifolia, 
Saturnia carpini. 
