180 [January, 
However, one point has been fairly settled this year, and that is a more 
correct description of the larvae. From notes taken by Mr. Llewelyn and myself, 
it seems that nearly every individual of the whole brood of twenty-five presented 
some Httle peculiarity of its own, but that all might be fairly ranged under three 
main varieties. 
1. I have taken for the type the form which has all the characteristic markings, 
yet without any exaggeration in the colouring. Ground colour on the back a soft 
delicate grey, on the belly a greenish-white ; dorsal Une paler than the ground, 
very finely but distinctly edged with blackish threads, which become stronger on 
segments 10 — 12 ; the sub-dorsal Hne also pale with fine edgings, and on segments 
1 — 5 having a strong dark streak immediately below it, continued backwards as a 
dark thread. Sometimes the edgings of the lines are not so dark, but have a 
reddish tint ; sometimes again the dorsal line is not of uniform width, but at the 
fold from 5 — 10 opens into a small white dot, immediately followed by a small 
black dot, which thus interrupts the Une. 
2. On one side of the type comes the variety described in 1865, the ground- 
colour of which is decidedly green, and the edgings of the lines red ; some are 
blue-green, some full green, some bright green ; and the edgings are dark red, 
bright rust-red, or pinkish. As before, the dorsal line varies in different specimens 
in being either of imiform width or else widened at the folds and interrupted. 
3. On the other side of the type comes a plainer variety! in which the gi'ound 
is more or less ochreous, sometimes becorqing as warm in tint as a piece of clean 
fresh-cut cork ; the belly sometimes whitish, sometimes paler ochreous than the 
back ; the pale dorsal line stUl varying as before in width, and although occasionally 
darkly margined, yet more generally in this variety not so distinctly defined j in 
one or two specimens the lines were scarcely visible. 
I noticed that the pupa3 were darker than those of 1865 — perhaps because 
they were sickly. — J. Hellins, County Prison, Exeter, December 7th, 1867. 
Notes on the larva of Xanthia ferruginea. — Though a trifle larger, yet in form 
and structure this larva closely resembles that of gilvago, but with the following 
exceptions : — 
The general colouring is of a browner tint, sometimes of an ochreous-brown. 
The series of dark central marks on the back, with their dark wedges, assume 
together more compact forms of an urn shape, being attenuated behind, so that a 
constant character appears in the hinder pair of tubercular dots being outside the 
dark urn shapes. On referring to figures of this species of 1861 and 1865, the 
same characters are apparent, though two of them found under common ash varied 
much in colour, one being a grey variety, and the other a brighter and more 
distinctly marked example than any of those on wych-elm. — Wm. Buckler, 
Ems worth. 
Notes on Tethea retusa. — I believe this species is not yet considered to be 
common, so perhaps it may not be uninteresting to state that we take it here in 
some seasons, by searching for the larvae in the folded leaves and shoots of various 
kinds of sallows, about the end of May and begiuuiug of June. At that time of the 
