H - v -9- ‘ Bs he i atata’’ ‘" eee aod doatyt ‘3 r ‘ ; Hy ~ 7 ie 4 at “ey ‘ aiden ft ‘ i ; my Miitteo(tanat pas a ae 5a viet mie i) Ht vbate eh iM ‘ eee oe ee te) oe ee ran} a \4 ia oi eS ee en ae a a a yy) a fant it ti HY He peti Ea cee ae ht a + S SE i ih Bs | ‘ R : i 4 Ny ie HT AEN mo % Lé.i hy - may vas r) if w i / ‘ i eG . Qiu 6% , oD \ THE Pk ENTOMOLOGIST AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF GENERAL ENTOMOLOGY. EDITED BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON, F.L.S. WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF FREDERICK BOND, F.Z.S. J. JENNER WEIR, F.LS., F.Z.S. EDWARD A. FITCH, F.LS. F. BUCHANAN WHITE, M.D., JOHN A. POWER, M.D. E.L.S. “ By mntual confidence and mutual aid Great deeds are done and great discoveries made.” Pors’s ‘ Homer.’ VOLUME THE FOURTEENTH. Qo shoe LONDON: . SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., STATIONERS’ HALL COURT. 1881. ‘T said that ‘all the years invent ; Each month is various to present The world with some development. Tennyson’s ‘ T'wo Voices.’ yy “Not only does the marvellous structure of each organised being involve the whole past history of the earth, but such apparently unimportant facts as the presence of certain types of plants or animals in one island rather than in another, are now shown to be dependent on the long series of past geological changes—on those marvellous astronomical revolutions which cause a periodic variation of terrestrial climates, and on the endlessly varied actions and reactions of organised beings on each other. . . . We are thus encouraged to study more completely every detail and every anomaly in the distribution of living things, in firm conviction that by so doing we shall obtain a fuller and clearer insight into the course of nature.” ALFRED Russe~n Wauiace, in ‘Island Life, CONTENTS. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIRUTORS. Ager, F. W. 210 Anderson, Joseph, jun. 136, 182 Ashford, C. 66 Atmore, HK. A. 153, 228 Axon, Wm. E. A, 226 Baker, George 230 Battiscombe, C. 255d Beveridge, Wilfred W. O. 230 Bignell, G. C. 182, 188, 262 Billups, T. R. 236 Blackall, W. 257 Bliss, A. 157 Boden, C. J. 160, 177 Bond, Frederick, F.Z.S. 184, 186 Bowyer, R. W. 25, 136 Brady, Wm. EK. 164 Bridgman, John B. 238 Bridgman, John B., and E. A. Fitch 58, 77, 109, 129, 205 Briggs, C. A. 71, 119, 217 Briggs, T. H. 133 Brunetti, EK. A. 118, 144 Cambridge, Rev. O. P., M.A., C.M.Z.S. 187, 145, 2138, 227, 228 Candler, Charles 70, 233 Carrington, John T., F.L.S. 1, 23, 24, 46, 72, 73, 96, 112, 120, 144, 151, 158, 166, 168, 180, 192, 214, 231, 240, 257, 258, 262, 264, 301, 302, 303 Clifford, Charles 92 Clifford, J. R. S. 232 Cooke, N. 43 Cooper, J. A. 114, 254 Corbett, H. H. 224 Coverdale, G. 210, 296 Crewe, Rev. H. Harpur, M.A. 43, 198 Cross, W. J. 258 Cubison, H. 212 Dale, C. W. 92 Daltry, Rev. Thos. W., M.A., F.L.S. 227 Davis, W. 256 Dobson, H. T., jun. 239 Dows, Annie 114 Durham, Herbert E. 225 Eedle, Thomas 116, 181, 225, 231 Evershed, J. 211 Farn, Albert Brydges 194 Finzi, J. A. 185 Fitch, Edward A., F.L.S. 8, 21, 25, 46, 48, 93, 94, 188, 163, 187, 188, 190, 216, 259, 295, 300 Fitch, K. A., and John B. Bridgman 58, 77, 109, 129, 205 Fletcher, J. E. 21 Fowler, Rev. W. W., M.A., F.L.S. 71, 91, 293 Frere, Horace 135 Fryer, Herbert Fortescue 44 Galsworthy, F. J. 16 cig William D., C.E. 1, 35, 61, 100, 24 Gosse, P. H., F.R.S. 156, 241 Graham, N. C. 180, 260 Grapes, G. J. 85, 115 Greene, Rey. J., M.A. 117, 255 Gregson, C. 8. 143 Grifiith, A. F. 20 Grigg, William H. 227 Hall, T. H, 135, 254 Harbour, R. 17, 19, 256 Harris, H. K. 184, 226 Hart, Thomas H. 22, 187 Harwood, W. H. 232 Herbert, C. W. 227 Hodgkinson, J. B. 20, 43, 68, 117, 223, 257 Howe, Thomas 300 Hutchinson, Mrs. E. S. 250 Ince, C. EK. M. 182 | Inchbald, Peter, F.L.S. 41, 296 Jenkyns, M.S. 177 Jobson, J. W. 45, 158 Johnson, W. 18 Jones, E. H. 158 | Kay-Robinson, E. 193 King, J. J. 20 | Kirby, W. F. 174, 253 Laddiman, Robert 19 Laker, Abbott G. 82 Law, H. W. 254 Leech, J. H. 19, 158 Longley, C. T. 225 Lotham G, 210 ly Lovett, Edward 16, 17, 176, 178 Lubbock, Sir John, Bart., M.V., F.R.S. 282 Machin, William 44, 69 M‘Caul, S. 256 M‘Rae, W. 179, 252, 261 Maling, W. 259 Mann, W. K. 66, 258 Mathew, Gervase F., F.L.S. 67 Mathew, Mrs. Gervase 68 May, J. W. 30, 105 Meade, R. H., F.R.C.S. 71, 285 Meek, Edward G. 184, 185, 212, 281 Melvill, J. Cosmo, M.A., F.L.S. 213 Mera, A. W. 160 Mitchell, Alfred T. 257 Noakes, A. 212 Norman, 8. 160, 3800 Olliff, A. Sidney 48, 45, 92, 216 Ormerod, E. A., F.M.S. 165 Perkins, V. R. 178, 186, 231, 238, 261 Pim El Be0 Porritt, George T., F.L.S. 17, 66, 87, 117, 134, 215, 260 Prest, William 23, 181, 216, 259 Pritchard, B. 86 Ralfe, Thos. Humble 178, 179, 225, 254 Raynor, Rey. Gilbert H. 116, 212, 229 Ricketts, M. 257 Rolfe, R. Allen 54 Rose, Arthur J. 297 Routledge, Mrs. 230 Russ, Percy H. 259 Sabine, E. 177, 210 CONTENTS. Salusbury, W. L. 230 Salwey, Reginald E. 13, 199 Service, Robert 238 Sharp, F. 19 Sharp, W. E. 20 Sinclair, A. 258 Slipper, R. A. 254 Smethurst, Charles 254, 260 Smith. Fred. W. 212, 228 Snell, C. Dashwood 18 Sotheby, R. M. 252 South, Richard 9, 738, 154, 159, 182, 202, 234 ' Standen, R. S. 23, 189 Sturge, L. 225 Sutton, Charles W. 190 Thomson, W. 84 Thornewill, Rev. Chas. F., M.A. 69, 117, 211, 218, 214, 225, 258 Thorp, John 254 Thouless, H. J. 298 Threlfall, J. H. 136 Tugwell, W. H. 19, 158, 211, 214, 226 Ussher, ©. B. 157 Wailly, Alfred 121, 245 Webb, Sydney 298 Weir, J. Jenner, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 97, 218, 278 Wellman, J. R. 179, 227, 228, 296 White, F. Buchanan, M.D., F.L.S. 265 White, William 169 Williams, J. Trimmer 212 Wilson, TI’. 88 Wood, Theodore 70 Yearsley, P. M. 115 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF Abnormal Odonestis potatoria 227 Abraxas grossulariata double-brooded 18; feeding on Sedum Telephium and 8. latifolium 43 ,, ulmata double-brooded 257 Acheea Chameleon 101 Acherontia Atropos, vitality 114; in Man- chester 226 Acidalia immutata, food-plants of 212 3 ochrata bred 19; further notes on breeding 158 ; at Deal 214 Acolobus 112 Acosmetia caliginosa, supposed larvie 45 Acronycta alni 186, 158, 201; near Bur- ton-on-Trent 213; in North Stafford- shire 227; near Leicester 230; near Burton-on-Trent id. SUBJECTS. Actias Selene 250 Agrotis obelisca in Fifeshire 230 Amblyteles 60 Anarta melanopa 280 Anchomenus marginatus 70, 91 Anisobas 131 Anthomyia betz (with figures) 165 Apeleticus 209 Apatura Iris larva 178; life-history 195 + var. Iole 177, 216 Aplecta occulta near Whitby 18; in Essex 116; at Ely 258; near Wimbledon id. Arctia caja, development of the pupa 176 ; stridulation 178 » fuliginosa 136 Argynnis Adippe, var. Cleodoxa 210 Atlantis 98 ” CONTENTS. Vv Argynnis Bellona 99 2 Lapponica id. 5 Lathonia, variety (figure) 25 as Myrina 98 3 Paphia, varieties in the New Forest 224 Tarquinius 99 Asychna eratella 69 Attacus Atlas 250 » Aurota 123 » Luna, description of the larva 115 (read Attacus Selene 144) » Roylei 249 Automalus 131 Baumbaueria vertiginosa 289 Bees, colours of flowers as an attraction to 282 Beetle, blue 44 Beetles, Colorado, in South Devon 72 Boarmia repandata 220; var. Sodorensium 220; two extreme forms (with coloured figures) 304 Boletobia fuliginaria in London 179, 228; captures 212, 228 Bombyces, silk-producing and _ other Exotic 85, 245; silk-producing 121 Bombyx mori, notes on an abnormal pupa of (with figures) 193 Books REVIEWED :— ‘Biologie der Kafer Europas,’ by Ma- thias Rupertsberger 94 ‘Butterflies of Europe,’ by Dr. Lang 144, 192 ‘Epping Forest and County of Essex Naturalists’ Field Club Trans- actions’ 192 ‘ TInjurious Insects, Manual of,’ by E. A. Ormerod 168 ‘Tnsect Hunter’s Companion’ 120 ‘Locust, Rocky Mountain, Second Re- port of the United States Entomo- logical Commission on the’ 190 ‘Parasites et les Maladies Parasitaires,’ by P. Megnin 93 Breeding Nola centonalis 226 Bryophila par (with coloured figure) 304 Butterflies, British, some thoughts on the distribution 265 Butterfly hunting in Natal—on the coast | lands 61, 100, 124 Callimorpha hera in South Devon 227 Camptogramma bilineata 221 Caprifoliace mined by a Dipterous in- | sect 42 Caradrina ambigua—a Lepidopteron new | | Dipterous plant-miners, and the plants to the British Fauna 281 Caterpillars stopping a railway train 168 Catoptera tripoliana 69 Catoptria emulana (with coloured figure) 304 decolorana (with coloured fig.) 305 ” Cedestis Gysselinella in England 20 Celena Haworthii 279 Ceratocampa (Eacles) imperialis 247 Chareas graminis, abundance 166 Chenopodiaceze mined by a Dipterous insect 42 Cherocampa celerio 24; in December 115; capture of 225; in Sligo 255 Chortophila betz (with figures) 8, 25, 29 chenopodii 29 9” AD conformis 30 55 hyoscyami 29 Cidaria fulva, description of the larva 67; larva 87 » immanata 279 » russata 222 testata 279 Cladius viminalis larve destructive to nut-stubs 188, read Nematus (Cre- sus) septentrionalis, L. 216 Clostera anachoreta 117, 133, 160 Cocoons of Hydrophilus piceus aud Hy- drobius fuscipes 82 Coleophora inflatella 160 mariniella 68 Colias Edusa at Eastbourne 252; at Mal- don 295 » Hyale 296 Collecting in North Devon 154, 202; in the Hebrides 184 Colorado beetles in South Devon 72 Composite mined by Diptera 42 Coremia quadrifasciaria 70, 212; in Nor- folk 228; range in the Eastern Counties 229 Cosmopteryx Lienigiella 185 orichalcella id. Crambus alpinellus 214 fe verellus at Cambridge 20 es Warringtonellus 181 Cymatophora ridens 113 Dasycampa rubiginea 300 Dasydia obfuscata 220 Dasypolia templi 280 Deiopeia pulchella 18, 261; in the Isle of Wight 66; in Ireland 157; at Bestwall 227 Dianthecia albimacula 215 53 cucubali double-brooded 214 Dicranura bicuspis in North Stafford- shire 227 Dicrorampha flavidorsana 159 undescribed (with coloured figure) 304 Diptera, notes on 285 Dipteron, leaf-mining, note on 71 they affect 41; in their perfect state 290 | Dolerus palustris bred 163 Emmelesia albulata 221; var. Hebudium id.; (with coloured figure) 304 vi Emmelesia albulata, var. Thules 280 a blandiata 279 ‘k teeniata larvee 257 Ennomos alniaria 18 PA autumnaria 211, 257, 298; at Folkestone 257 Entomological nomenclature 92, 144; evening at the Royal Aquarium 234, 264; notes from Bournemouth 261 Ephippiphora turbidana 156 Epunda lutulenta, var. lunebergensis, in Laneashire 68 Erastria fuscula 185 Erycinide 37 Esher Woods 184 Euperia fulvago in Essex 116 Eupithecia absynthiata feeding on tansy 258 36 Blancheata 20, 43 7 expallidata two years in pupa 228 5 irriguata 112, 183 3 jasioneata, Crewe, a species new to Britain 198, 218; in North Devon (with coloured figure) 303 Fr plumbeolata 203 a ultimaria 300; (with coloured figure) 303 5 venosata 280 Eupithecia, new 20; new to the British list, description 45 Eupithecie captured in the Hebrides and in the Shetland Isles (with coloured figures) 303 Eupecilia Geyeriana 185 Eurylabus 206 Eurytelidee 37 Exorista affinis 289 grandis 288 : hortulana 289 an lota id.. a parens id. = vulgaris 288 Food, does it produce variation? 234, 260 Food-plants of Acidalia immutata 212; insects and their 261 Forficulide 239 Galls, additions to casual inhabitants 21 Gelechia cerealella 186 Ee morosa id. Geometra smaragdaria bred 264 Glaucopis Formosa 102 * Madagasceariensis id. ' Gracilia pygmea 186 Grapta Faunus 98 5 gracilis zd. Hadena dentina 279 Haggerston Entomological Society, Ex- hibition 23, 262 Heecatera dysodea in Northumberland 230, 258 | Larvee CONTENTS. Heliophibus hispida, description of the larva 134 Heliothis armigera in Gloucestershire 231 Hermaphrodite-hybrid Sphingide 253 Hepialus humuli 220 velleda 211, 226, 280 - » var. Hethlandica 279 Hepiopelmus 111 Hesperia Actzon, probable extermination at Lulworth 252, 297 Hesperide 40 Hornet, queen, at work 189 Hornets in Norfolk 23 Hybernia defoliaria and other larve, abundance of in the New Forest 179 Hybrid hermaphrodite of Smerinthus populi (with figure) 217 Hydrecia micacea 278 Hydrophilus piceus and Hydrobius fus- cipes, cocoons 82 Hymenoptera in Dorsetshire 137; acu- leate, captures 238; scarcity round London id. Hymenopterous parasites of Lepidoptera 138 39 Hypomecus 132 Ichneumonide, introductory papers on 58, 77, 109, 129, 205 Insect plague 166 Insectarium, new, at Regent’s Park 131 Insects, how they cross the Channel 19; certain, unusual abundance 22; reared from larve collected on the Kssex salt-marshes 69; attracted by electric light 182; and their food- plants 261 Labiatz mined by a Dipterous insect 42 Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society 72 Larentia cesiata 221 “A didymata id. Larva of Plusia V-aureum, description 66; of Cidaria fulva, description 67; of Cidaria fulvata 87; of Attacus luna, description 115; of Pterophorus galactodactylus, description 117; of Heliophobus hispida, description 134; of Thecla W-album 157; rear- ing Leucania obsoleta from 179; Pterophorus tephradactylus, descrip- tion 260 collected on the Essex salt- marshes, insects reared from 69; of genus Thecla 177; of Hybernia de- foliaria, &e., abundance of in the New Forest 179; of Cladius vimi- nalis destructive to nut-stubs 188, read Nematus (Croesus) septentrio- nalis, L. 216; of Emmelesia teniata 257 | Laphygma exigua 18 CONTENTS. Lasius mixtus, Nyl.—an ant’ new to Britain 262 Lepidoptera of Natal 1, 35; rare, at light 17; varieties 19; reared in 1880, 44; on the flowers of burdock 69; near Dover 116; Hymenopterous para- sites of 138; at Wicken Fen 158; rare, breeding id.; attracted by elec- tric light 160; imtroductory papers on 174; at Lyndhurst 180; on Thorne Moor 181; in June id.; in North Devon 182; at Plymouth id.; in London id.; at Deal 214; at Llandudno 215; of the Outer He- brides 218; rare, in Essex 232; uncommon, near Neweastle 259 Lepidoptera-Rhopalocera of Hudson’s Bay, notes on 97 Leucania obsoleta, rearing of from the larva 179 - turca 184 se vitellina 18 Life-history of Odynerus pictus, contri- bution towards 188; of Apatura Iris 195 Limerodes 60 Listrodromus 131 Lithosia pygmeola 214 » rubricollis, abundance 158 Lycena Acis near Addiscombe 158 ,, Adonis in Scotland 215 » Agestis in Derbyshire 135 » Argiolus id. » Lucia 99 Lycenide 39 Macro-Lepidoptera of the Shetland Isles 278 Mangold-fly (with figures) 8, 25, 164, 165 Megacronus inclinans at Dulwich 70 Melanippe hastata, variety (with figure) 1; varieties 221 9 montanata 221; var. Shet- landica 280; variety (with coloured figure) 304 Melanthia albicillata, variety (with figure) 73 Micro-Lepidoptera near Preston, notes on 136 Micropteryx fastuosella 43 Mixodia Bouchardana in Kent 263 Molanna palpata 20 Mycetophilid, economy and parasite of a Nemeophila plantaginis 280 Nemorea notabilis 289 New Forest at Easter 112; a month in the 199 Nola centonalis, capture 19 ; breeding 226 » cristulalis bred 44 », strigula at sugar 211 Nomenclature, scientific 71, 119; ento- mologieal 92, 144 Note on leaf-mining Dipteron 71 Notes from Taynuilt 13; from Ranworth Fen 18, 238; on the season 182, 184; on Tribolium confusum and Priobium castaneum 216; entomological, from Bournemouth 261 Notices of new books, see Books reviewed Notodonta carmelita 181 Nymphalide 2, 35, 174 Nymphaline 174 Oak-galls in the Quercetum of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, notes on d4 OBITUARY :— Blackburn, John Bickerton 301 Blackwall, John, F.L.S. 145, 190 Garneys, William 302 Guenee, Achille 48 Hind, Robert 96 Mulsant, Etienne 46 Weston, Walter Philip 72, 96 Odonestis potatoria, variety 17, 68; ab- normal 227 Odynerus pictus, contribution towards its life-history 188 Orgyia antiqua, geographical distribution 16; abundance of in London 178 Ornithoptera Brookeana—description of female 156 Orthosia suspecta, new locality for 136 Pachnobia hyperborea 280 Peedisca sordidana and P. opthalmicana 259 Papilio Glaucus var. Turnus 99 , Machaon near Bristol 66 Patula Macrops 103 Penthina carbonana 185 5 postremana bred 143 Peronea aspersana infesting the straw- berry 2352 Pheedon, the genus 293 Phedon betule 44, 187, 236, 293 a: cochlearize 294 i conecinnum id. 5 tumidulum 293 Phorocera concinnata 289 Phoxopteryx palludana 185 Pieris oleracea 98 Plant-miners, Dipterous, and the plants they affect 41; in their perfect state 290 Platylabus 207 Platypteryx sicula 227; notes on 258 Plusia V-aureum, description of the larva 66 Plusiidee in County Sligo 259 Pogonocherus hispidus at Finchley 45 Polygonaceee mined by a Dipterous insect 42 Pontia Alcesta 103 Primulacese mined by a Dipterous insect 42 ' Priobium castaneum 216 Vill Prionocyphon serricornis in Kent 118 Pristioeros 207 Pterophori, British, contributions to the history 49, 73 Pterophorus galactodactylus, description of the larva 117 55 new British (with coloured figure) 304 OD tephradactylus, description of the larva 260 i. Zetterstedtii 182 Pupa of Arctia caja, development 176; abnormal, of Bombyx mori (with figures) 193; Eupithecia expallidata two years in 228 Pups, forcing 86 Pyralis Lienigialis, Zell.: a Pyrale added to the British Fauna 84 (with coloured figure) 304 ” 9 Pyrameis Atalanta 98 is cardui id. Queen hornet at work 189 Railway train stopped by caterpillars 168 Ranunculaceee mined by Dipterous in- sects 41 Reviews, see Books reviewed Rhopalocera of Europe 46 Royal Aquarium, entomological evening at the 234, 264 Samia Gloveri 250 Satyride 38 Sawflies, life-histories 80, 105 Sciatheras trichotus, Ratz. 21 Scientific nomenclature 71, 119 Scoparia conspicualis, Hodgk., a Lepi- dopteron new to the British Fauna 223; near York 231; in North Lan- cashire (with coloured figure) 303 Scopolia oeypterina 289 Selandria candidata 105 Sirex gigas at sugar 23 Smerinthus populi, hybrid hermaphro- dite (with figure) 217 Sphingide, hermaphrodite-hybrid 253 Sphinx convolvuli at Burton-on-Trent 225; at Notting Hill id.; near York id.; in July 254; at Ashbourne id. ; in Norfolk id.; in Laneashire id. ; near Leeds id.; near Malvern id.; at Norwich 298 45 pinastri near Ipswich 210; in Herefordshire 255 Stauropus fagi 158 Stigmonota scopariana bred 117 (with cold. fig.) 304 ”° ” CONTENTS. Strangalia quadrifasciata at West Wick- ham 92 Sugaring at Darenth 185 Sugaring ground, query 70 Tachina larvarum 289 Telea Polyphemus 250 Tenthredinide near York 88 Tenthredo colon 30 Theela W-album, larva 157, 177 Thelaira leucozona 289 Tortrices in Epping Forest 231 Tortricide, contribution to history 143 Tortrix Lafauryana—a species new to the British Fauna 153; (with coloured figure) 304 Toxocampa cracce 204, 214 Tribolium confusum 216 Trichopteron, new British 20 Triphena fimbria in Essex 116 . pronuba, extraordinary abun- dance 180, 213 4 subsequa 200, 213 Trogus 129 the life- Umbelliferee mined by Dipterous insects 2 United Field Naturalists’ Society 240 Urania Sloanus at home 241; larva and and pupa, descriptions 243 Vanessa Antiopa 16, 98, 114, 210, 225 3 C-album, supposed extinction 250, 296 F Milbertii 98 5 Polychloros, is it the prototype of V. Urtice? (with figure) 169, 210 Variation, does food produce? 234, 260 Varieties of Odonestis potatoria 17; of Lepidoptera 19; of Argynnis Paphia in the New Forest 224 Variety of Melanippe hastata (with figure) 1; of Argynnis Lathonia (with figure) 25; of Odonestis potatoria 68 Vespa norvegica at Stamford Bridge 71; in Sussex 300 Wasps, great scarcity in Kirkeudbright- shire 238 West London Entomological Society 24 Wicken Fen, an afternoon in 185 Xylomiges conspicillaris 210 Xylophasia polyodon 220 39 rurea id. Ypsipetes impluviata 221 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. Vou. XIV.) JANUARY, 1881. [No. 212. VARIETY OF MELANIPPE HASTATA. MELANIPPE HASTATA, Var". Tur above very pretty variety of Melanippe hastata was taken in June, 1880, by Mr. William Prest, of York, while he was collecting in Edlington Wood, near Doncaster. At the same time Mr. Prest captured a long series of the normal type of this insect, but no other variety. Joun T. CarrineTon. NOTES ON THE LEPIDOPTERA OF NATAL. By Wittitam D. Goocu, C.E. (Continued from vol. xiii., p. 276.) Tue larve of the Acreide in Natal seem to have a tendency to gregarious habits, especially Cynthia and Petrea. Violarum also generally occurs numerously on any food-plant which is frequented by it. The young of Cynthia are common on a woolly- leaved Lamium, of which they eat away the under side of the leaf, curling it over, and enveloping it with silk threads, in which the exuvize and cast-skins get entangled. I have counted over eighty specimens in one brood. B 2 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. The larvee of Petrea do not, so far as I have observed, spin a common web, but they are very abundant. One shrub of the food-plant was year after year attacked by them in hundreds; and in the pupa state, I picked one branch with over twenty of the rather brilliantly marked pupe attached to it. They seemed to have a peculiar liking for this one shrub, the only one out of several of the same size and species in the same spot and aspect, and apparently similar condition, which the larvee ever attacked. Hvery entomologist must have had an experience of this character, and possibly has found as little explanation for it as I have. Lycia is found on a sort of “ flowering grass,’ which is a ground creeper in damp places; it is not very gregarious, but occurs sparsely over the masses of the food-plant on the ground. Natalica and Petrea feed on a succulent creeper, which is a favourite also with Zetes and Hypatia. The larve generally are prettily but not conspicuously coloured, and the pupe marked with black or red lozenges and angles. Some of the male imagines of the Acreide are furnished with horny appendages below the abdomen, of which I could never ascertain the use. I have not heard whether this has been noticed generally. NyYMPHALID®. Nymphalide both in number and display is very well repre- sented in its many branches, and a South African collection gives a very fair facies of this important and popular family. The drawers of my cabinet containing them were those gazed upon with most admiration by my non-entomological friends. The widely-spread insect Atella Phalanta is very abundant. It hardly varies appreciably from the Indian form in the imago, but the larva and pupa are very different in Natal from Horsfield and Moore’s description of the Indian types. The pupa, especially ornamented with coral-red spines and marks and gilt spots, &c., is as beautiful as any I have ever seen, quite eclipsing the glit- tering Danaideé both in delicacy and brilliancy of colour and harmony of form. My first discovery of the larva of this insect was by noticing a female egg-depositing. I watched her, marked the sprays, found the eggs, and visited them from time to time till the larva emerged, and so on till their pupa stage was reached ; meanwhile—having obtained a clue to the food-plant, which much NOTES ON THE LEPIDOPTERA OF NATAL. 3 resembles our hazel—I soon found other larvee, and bred a good series. At some periods of the year the imago is much darker than at others, following the law already set down’ concerning some Anthocarine. The size of this insect varies very much, and to this circumstance I trace the apparent rarity of an allied insect Lachnoptera Ayresit. This was first taken by Mr. Bertie Ayres, of Pine Town, and is allied to a West African form. I subsequently captured both male and female. In each case I took them on the wing, and believed them to be, as I struck at them, only large specimens of A. Phalanta. ‘Their habits are precisely similar ; I have no doubt that if Atella were carefully hunted the pursuit would yield a series of Lachnoptera Ayres. The male differs from the female by having a lead-coloured patch on each of the hind wings. The female has handsomer and richer colouring than A. Phalanta, and the markings in black festoons are very elegant. That most universal and at the same time beautiful insect, the “painted lady,” is found as freely in Natal as else- where. It occurs throughout the year, and the brooding seems to be continuous. The larva, which differs very slightly in its ee ‘ ‘common weed,” apparently of the Urticacee. ‘The insect has sometimes a strong roseate shot over the whole surface of its wings, not inter- fering with the ordinary markings, which makes it very beautiful. Allied to the preceding and to our well-known English “admiral” is a very handsome and somewhat rare butterfly, with brilliantly coloured upper-wings, red, white, and black, and with a deep subtly coloured underwing of most marvellous rich- ness and intricacy of pattern. This is Pyrameis Hippomene ; it is present, I believe, in two varieties, is a somewhat solitary wood-haunting insect, and is difficult to meet with, but is constant in its special and favourite spots; I do not know anything of its transformations. In common with many of the Nymphalide, the male and female differ in the tails on the hind wings, but not to the same extent as is elsewhere observable. The conspicuous and at the same time interesting genus Diadema is fairly represented in Natal; the mimetic tendencies of the genus are well exemplified in each insect; D. Misippus, with its brilliant male and ochreous female mimicking Danais Chry- sippus; D. Anthedon, with its attendants, Varia, Mima and Dubia, markings in the male and female forms, feeds on a 4 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. which seem, although so diverse in colouring, to be only mimetic varieties of the first, aping Papilio Leonidas or Danais Echeria. Of D. Misippus I have bred several specimens, the larva being a spined one, black throughout, and with two longish and decided horns on the head; each segment is much constricted. The pupa is short and rounded, and highly decorated with grey striz and blotchings, no doubt as a protection, being very like the bark of stems, &c, to which it is attached. All those I reared were males, so that I cannot tell whether there is a sexual variation in the larve. They feed on the leaves and flowers of a composite plant. The insect in its larval state, as in the case of A. Phalanta, presents great variation from that figured and described as the Indian one by Horsfield and Moore. The handsome and some- what rarer D. Anthedon I reared from some larve I collected on a true nettle growing by water. Although larger, they are very similar to those of D. Misippus, but had white rings round the body on each segment. The spines were long, horny, and divaricating, but not urticating ; the horns on the head were also present. Although I made special hunts on the food-plant for the larvee after I had found the first two or three, with the hope of rearing a good series, in order to set at rest if possible the relations between Anthedon, Varia, and Mima, I was unsuccessful in getting more than one poor “ beastie,” and that was delicate and died. The haunts of the imago always showed me patches of the nettle food-plant growing in the damp, and Mima and Anthedon were present in about equal abundance, so that I hope, by hunting the nettle patches, some Natal resident will manage to work out the problem I had myself wished to do, and probably breed a series of both these insects from one brood of eggs. Perhaps the most special feature of Natal Nymphalids is the development of the genus Junonia. J. Anacardii (peculiar to Natal), the ‘‘ mother-of-pearl butterfly,” is the largest and most brilliant ; it isa lovely object floating lazily in mid-air in high sunlight, and well deserves its colonial name. ‘The falcation of the wing is very marked, and varies considerably, as does also the size of the insect and the purity of its colouring, which is occasionally so suffused with brownish black as to present the appearance of a new species. It is a wood-haunter, and is not at all uncommon. ‘The capture of two or three of these butterflies is one of the first features of moment in a collector’s visit to Natal, NOTES ON THE LEPIDOPTERA OF NATAL. 5 _ for being conspicuous, they are tempting; being just out of reach, they are exasperating; and being very beautiful and large, they are gratifying when caught. The larva of this conspicuous insect is, so far, unknown, but from its large size it ought not to remain so long. Judging from J. Natalica and Ginone, it should be spined and horned, and of a sombre colour, probably not unlike one of the spined Saturnia larvee. I never, by watching the imago, got any clue to the food- plant. The other species of this genus, Junonia, may be subdivided into several groups. The first group is composed of open country varieties, and as developed in Natal, presents such remarkable intermediate forms between several of its members—e.g., between Amestris and Octavia, Archesia and Pelasgis, Archesia and Natalica—that it will be a very pretty problem for the field naturalist to solve their relations, and one which the cabinet entomologist finds himself quite at a loss to deal with. As the perfect insects are all abundant, the larve should not be difficult to obtain and rear; that of J. Amestris has already been reared by Lieut. H. C. Harford, but no notes on variation were made. The next group includes J. Ginone, a grass butterfly, J. Clelia, and J. Orithya, which almost appears to be a suffused variety of Clelia. ‘The latter insect. lives among low scrub and bushes on the coast lands only, whilst the two former are found also on the high grass-lands away from the coast. The trans- formations of both Cinone and Clelia are known; I reared several of Clelia, and found distinct sexual variation in the cater- pillar markings, but to a very modified extent, consisting in the presence of a grey lateral thin line or stripe, below the insertion of the lateral spines. J. Ceryne is a very variable butterfly; in its form it much resembles J. Anacardit, but it is a low flyer, flitting on low bushes or dusty roads. Its variations of colour, I think, are generally traceable to darker or ochreous sutfusion obliterating the ordinary markings. It is common in the winter on the coast. J. Cloantha, a bright butterfly with black festoons and markings, which have a blue shot in certain lights, presenting a very handsome contrast to the ground colour of red ochreous, is 6 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. very common on the grass-lands up-country, and is specially a winter or late autumn butterfly. In fact, the whole of the Junomeé are more strongly present in late autumn and winter than in the summer. The typical Nymphalid is sufficiently developed in Natal in Charaxes and Nymphalis to brighten up a cabinet and heighten a collector's enterprise. ‘The species which fell to my net in two seasons were C. Mthalion, Brutus, Citheron, Pelias, Candiope ; N. Jahlusa, Zoolina, and Neanthes. These, without exception, vary, in the tails, between male and female. They are all to be caught feeding on mimosa gum or sap as it exudes from the stem in the hot sunlight, sometimes at distances sufficiently away from the ground to make ita matter of aggravation to the pursuer that his game is quite content, despite all his challenges with bits of paper, showers of sand, &c., to stop and sip the nectar, and pay no attention to the mortal below. They stick most pertinaciously to these exudations, and some- times require almost to be “‘ poked” off. But when they do move, it is so suddenly, that very often the net is quite behind, and the opportunity is lost. To increase the difficulty of capture, this exudation is most specially delightful to them when it is from the bark of a rough and very thorny mimosa, which is perfect ruin to nets and temper. However, experience and patience, as in every- thing else, does it, and by a little attention and several trials the insects can be taken with certainty, as they are very bold, and return continually to the same spot, however often they may be disturbed. The most remarkable dissimilarity between the sexes, which is not confined to the tails, is the case of C. Kthalion, the male being black and smaller than the female, which is black, with white bars and spots and purple blue marks on the upper sides of the wings, though the under sides are nearly identical. The under sides of all the Charaxes are handsome, especially Brutus and Pelias, which are silver veined and very brilliant and rich. C. Jahlusa also has silver marks, but in dots and splotches, like our Enelish Fritillaries. Candiope is a very handsome red-brown butterfly, with bright green veins, &c. Pelias, which is very local, is also red-brown, but without green veins. Candiope haunts bush paths by the coast; Pelias, mimosa scrub on hill-tops inland. LHthalion loves scattered bush near grass-land. Brutus, NOTES ON THE LEPIDOPTERA OF NATAL. 7 like Candiope, is a bush lover; and so is Citheron generally, although specially affecting orange groves. Jahlusa, with its silver-spotted under side, is not found freely coastwards, but in kloofs and bushes up-country. Zoolina and Neanthes, which, except for the fact that Zoolina 1s white and Neanthes ochreous, are identical in markings, habits, and sexual differences, and appear to be a variety of one another, are coast butterflies, haunting low mimosa trees in glades, or waste scrub, or rows of “bois noir,’ a mimosa that has been introduced into Natal, and is often planted on sugar estates as a margin to roads. The metamorphoses of these insects are not at all well known. I reared Citheron and Brutus from the larve, but did not obtain any others. The larve in these cases were somewhat slug-formed, with very pronounced heads, green with a rough skin, and with delicate blue markings and edgings. ‘They differed sexually in both instances, and the head had four or more short irregular processes or horns, edged and tipped with colour. Of Brutus I only bred a few, but of Citheron many. ‘The sexual difference of the latter was that the females had a large dorsal sub-cordate cream mark which was wanting, or only shown by a dot, in the males, and the colour was more vivid in the edgings to the frontal horns. Brutus had pale, oblique, lateral lines, in the reverse direction to those on the sphingiform caterpillars. The next genus, Pseudacrea, has already been referred to several times; it is a small family, consisting of only P. Tarquinia and P. Boisduwvalit. I believe another, P. wmitator, is added in Mr. Trimen’s list, but I have not seen it, and am inclined to think that as P. Boisduvalii is imitative in both its sexual forms of Acrea Acara, so the two forms, P. V’arquinia and imitator, are imita- tive of sexual differences of Acrea Aganice, and are sexual vars. of the same insect. It lives apparently on sufferance by its imitative powers of the odious Acreide. When present on the wing, I have always found it in company with its patron. I am unaware of its transformations, but should not be surprised to find the larval state also an imitative one of the Acrea family. (To be continued.) 8 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. THE MpeeayiG 0m D-F TL Y. By Epwarp A. Fircu. CHORTOPHILA BET. Ir is not long since one of the arguments advanced in favour of mangold culture over that of turnips or swedes was the immunity of the former root-crop from insect attack; and it is but few years since our agricultural text-books gave this crop as altogether free from these pests. ‘The experience of the last two or three years has produced quite an opposite conviction. Mildew or louse (Rhopalosiphum dianthi), the nigger or turnip-sawfly (Athalia spinarum), have hardly put in an appearance, and the “fly” (Phyllotreta undulata) has not been specially troublesome amongst our turnips and swedes; while, on the contrary, the young mangolds have everywhere suffered severely from wireworm (Agriotes lineatus, Athoitis niger) and Tipula grubs below the surface, and from caterpillars just above (Agrotis segetwm, A. exclamationis). Amongst the Coleoptera Silpha opaca, S. levigata, S. atrata, Atomaria linearis (both here and on the Continent, especially so in 1875 and 1876), Tanymechus palliatus, Cleonus sulcirostris, Gastrophysa polygont, Cassida nebulosa, and one of the Halticide, are all occasional destructives. The soft, pale brown, tuberculate, six-legged, antenniferous larva, and the pretty beetle, with its dark steel-blue elytra and red thorax, of Gastrophysa polygoni, have been destructive to the mangold leaves this year in several localities, more especially in the West of England. Tanymechus palliatus and Cleonus (Bothynoderes) punctiventris have been particularly destructive in Russia. This year we have one of those inexplicable spasmodic attacks, of some species not generally noxious, amongst the mangold crop throughout the kingdom. It has been more especially injurious in the North of England. ‘The mangold leaves have been THE MANGOLD-FLY. 9 blistered, and eventually destroyed, through the small larva of a dipterous fly feeding on the pulp between their cuticle. Whole fields have been completely scorched up, as it were, from their attack. The mangold-fly—Anthomyia (Chortophila) bete—was first brought into notice by Curtis. He described the male in the part of the ‘Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society’ published in December, 1847, from specimens received from Mr. F. J. Graham, of Cranford, who related its economy as observed in Surrey. Until this year I am aware of but one other recorded occurrence—at Castlewellan, Ireland. On the Continent its injurious effects have been repeatedly observed in Germany (Scholtz, Noérdlinger, Taschenberg, Fichtner, and Farsky); also in Sweden by Holmgren. In Mr. H. J. Little’s report on the “ Cumberland and West- moreland Farm-prize Competition, 1880,” in the just published part of R. Agric. Soc. Eng. Journal, we now read :—“ Part of the peat-land was planted with mangolds, but, like all the crops of that root in this country, they were very indifferent, having suffered from the maggot which seems to infest the North of England. This creature settles in the leaves, eats out their ribs, and entirely prevents growth. We did not find a piece free from its ravages in the two counties” (1. c. xvi. 549). This is on the fen-like soil of Mr. Donald’s Sanden House Farm, near the shore of the Solway Firth. In writing of Mr. Kitchen’s heavy land, upland, Farm, _ near Calthwaite, in central Cumberland, which is over 500 feet above sea-level, Mr. Little again says:—“A small quantity of long red mangolds are taken, and, like all the rest in this county, they were affected with the grub in the leaf, before alluded to.” In 1880 there were 1624 acres of mangold grown in these two counties, and this high authority says all were infested. Many of the short crop reports in our agricultural and local papers have referred to this new pest; and I have heard of it from correspondents in Cheshire, Yorks, Notts, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, and Salop. The following practical references are from the pages of the ‘Chamber of Agriculture Journal.’ Mr. W. T. Carrington, of Croxden Abbey, Uttoxeter (North Stafford), says, “Mangolds are poor and irregular generally; the leaves are now (July 12th) much pestered by a maggot.” J., writing from North Shropshire, in the same number, says, ‘‘ Mangolds c 10 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. mostly destroyed by grub.” From Cheshire a correspondent, writing on August 7th, reports that “ Mangold is again suffering from the maggot in the leaf.’ Mr. T. Duckham, M.P., says of Herefordshire, ‘“‘ Mangold injured seriously by white grub in the leaf.” The most entomological report hails from North Wilts. In the number for July 19th, W. P. J. A. writes, ‘ Karly sown mangolds have grown well, but are much injured by the maggot in the leaves, recently mentioned by your correspondents; nearly every plant is attacked, and some of the leaves appear scorched and shrivelled. I see several other large-leaved plants are similarly affected, as fat-hen, burdock, and docks. The latter plant has been liable to such attacks generally; however, I have noticed dock leaves affected in the same manner for thirty-five to forty years. Last year parsnips and celery were destroyed by this pest.’ This 1s enough to show the general distribution of the mangold-fly, and the noticeable injury it has everywhere caused. Now to the destructive itself. The eggs are laid in little scattered heaps on the under side of the mangold leaves, between the ribs, generally about the end of May or early in June, and again in July or August. These are elliptical in form and snowy white in colour, but with a strong glass they show a honeycomb-like, hexagonal pattern, as seen in the figure, which is copied from Farsky. As is very general in Dip- tera these eggs are attached together by means of a gummy substance, more often longitudinally, but not always; this viscous nature also attaches them to the leaf. Farsky found from four to eleven eggs in a batch, and as many as four batches on a leaf; but this is probably exceptional. Each egg is from 3 to 3 of a millimetre long, by about } mm. broad. As soon as hatched the young maggot bores through the lower cuticle of the leaf, and commences feeding on the pulp. It now feeds very energetically, and grows accordingly. The whole parenchyma of the leaf is often completely eaten, nothing but the thick midrib stopping the course of the larva. The leaf then presents a very bladdery or blotched and bleached appearance ; it speedily withers up and dies, but does not drop off. The larve sometimes are found singly, but more often two or three feed in the same blotch, and where there were as many as eleven eggs THE MANGOLD-FLY. id laid together we should expect to find eleven larve in a leaf; from what we know of the gastronomic powers of a single larva, where this happens the struggle for existence must eventually be rather severe. Farsky gives the result of an experiment on the extent of leaf blotched by eleven larve transferred from affected leaves to a fresh one. In six hours the blotch measured twelve square centimetres, and in twenty-four hours fifty-eight square centimetres, but as in all insects the amount of food con- sumed in a given time varies greatly according to many circum- stances. ‘The full-fed larva is about one third of an inch (7—9 mm.) long. It is apod, conico-cylindrical in shape, wide at its anal extremity, and tapering gradually from the 7th segment to the head; this carries two black retractile hooks. Westwood says “the mouth of the larve of the genus Pegomyia is furnished with a corneous instrument in the shape of S, which moves round a small fixed point, enabling them to scrape up the soft parenchyma of the leaf.” In colour it is pale yellowish white, showing greener towards its thickened extremity from the intestines showing through. This led Mr. Graham to describe the larva as greenish ; its frass is dark green. A pair of stigmata are placed just before the second segment; Farsky shows them greatly magnified in his figure, which is here copied, and says they resemble a seven-rayed fan (magnified, st). He also figures and minutely describes the truncate terminal gi re E en segment (magnified, a.s); on the dorsal =~ fw hieekco) sloping part are four twin, fleshy appendages; in the centre below these are two papille, with two more spiracles; there are two very inconspicuous protuberances on the ventral surface. It is there- fore an amphipneustic larva, according to Haliday’s classification. When full-fed the larva generally eats its way out of the leaf, and pupates in the ground, but occasionally this takes place within the leaf, as did the specimens described by Curtis. Mr. F. Norgate says he finds the pupe about three inches below the surface, and again, “T cannot find a single pupa in the leaves, nor have I induced a larva to pupate in a leaf, but believe this always takes place under- ground.” It might be thought that Curtis refers to a distinct species, but Farsky specially tells us that from his experi- mental leaf some pupated underground, while others did 12 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. so in the leaf. I believe this is common with many leaf-mining Diptera. The hard, coarctate pupa is from 5 to 6 mm. long, and of the shape usual with the typical Muscide. It is oval, slightly wrinkled, segmental divisions very indistinct; reddish brown in colour, slightly darker towards the head (see figure, heading article). C. bete hybernates as a pupa, though when bred the imagos are often produced in the late autumn. Farsky tells us that his second brood pupated about the 20th and 21st of October, while the imagos appeared at intervals from 10 to 105 days (4th February). Hence we find that barren specimens may be pro- duced in the autumn, but pupal hybernation is natural. The flies are produced from March to May; the egg state lasts from a week to ten days; as larve they live about a month, and the first brood remain in pupe from ten days to a fortnight. ‘There are normally two broods in the year, but frequently three or even more, where conditions meteorological and otherwise are favour- able. In 1854 Nordlinger found young larve as late as October lst. From Sparham, Norfolk, Mr. Frank Norgate reports the larvee common in two fields on June 20th. Mr. Nelson’s twenty acres were “set back about three weeks by the attack, and the headlands suffer least.” On July Ist he dug twelve pups, which emerged from 7th to 18th. On August Ist he reports, “ saw plenty of ova on under surface of mangold leaves. Their larve are now more numerous than ever, and the whole field looks brown with dry and blistered leaves ;” and again, on September 29th, “ Mr. G. Forby, of Sparham, tells me his mangold are now fresh ‘ blown’ by flies, and are set back by them.” This appears to point distinctly to three broods in Norfolk this year, and the Cheshire correspondent already quoted reports a second attack, or brood, in August. Mr. Graham’s specimens, quoted by Curtis, were larve on 26th June, and the imagos appeared from July 17th to 20th. The great attack this year throughout the country was in the first fortnight of July. Mr. Inchbald says the fields around Bridlington were attacked in July and August. Mr. Norgate’s copious notes were contributed for Miss Ormerod’s ‘Injurious Insect Report,’ to whom I am indebted for them, as well as the drawing at the head of this article. In this year’s ‘Report’ the mangold-fly is also reported from Slogarie, Kirk- cudbright, by Mr. Service ; from Churbrook, Cheshire, by Mr. NOTES FROM TAYNUILT. WS) Fitton; from Church Stretton, Shropshire, by Mr. 8. Harley Kough ; from Ballinacourt, Tipperary, by Mr. Sym Scott; and from Dromore Castle, Kenmare, Kerry, by Dr. R. J. Mahoney. The mangold-fly belongs to that immense Dipterous family, the Muscide ; Schiner describes 359 genera, and there are many others occurring in Europe. It is included in the subfamily Anthomytide. ‘This division includes a whole host of species, so closely allied that they are particularly difficult to separate. Their economy is very variable, the larve feeding on vegetable or animal matter, dead or living. Of the phytophagous species some feed in bulbs, roots, or stems, as the well-known onion flies (A. platura, Meig.; A. antiqua, Meig.=ceparum, Westw.; A. furcata, Bouche); the too common radish fly (A. floralis, Fallen); and the cabbage flies (A. radicum, L.; A. ruficeps, Meig.; the com- pound A. brassice, &c). One species is very destructive to lettuce seed (A. lactuce, Bouché). Of leaf blotchers there are several, mostly imperfectly known and with their synonymy greatly involved. Field naturalists and systematists do not always work together. These leaf-feeders generally have yellow ab- domens, and are included in Macquart’s genus Pegomyia, to which his Chortophila is very closely allied, but this includes the dark-bodied species. ‘The common dock leaf miner is P. mitis, Meig., Macq. = rumicis, Desv. P. bicolor, Wied., similarly blotches other species of Rumex. P. hyoscyami, Panz., Macq., affects the henbane, and our species of goosefoot (Chenopodium) and orache (Atriplex) are blotched by a species doubtfully distinet from it; Goureau called this P. atriplicis, and Rondani P. chenopodu. ‘This brings us into very close proximity with our mangold species; the botanic genus Beta coming between Chenopodium and Atriplex. (Lo be continued.) NEO Seek On ir Ne yONG Ue Wey aes By Recinatp E. Satwey. I nap the opportunity of spending three weeks in Taynuilt, Argyllshire, last June, and have extracted a few notes from my diary of my entomological ‘doings there. Taynuilt is a scattered village situated about half-way between 14 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. Dalmally and Oban, and is now accessible by the extended line of rail between the last-mentioned places. ‘The scenery is most impressive between Dalmally and Taynuilt, which is approached through the wild and gloomy Brander Pass,— * Where rocks were rudely heaped and rent As by a spirit turbulent,” and through which flows the short but very picturesque River Awe, connecting Lochs Awe and Etive, a stream dear to anglers, but which proved singularly unproductive last season; to this fact my brother and many fishermen can testify. I commenced operations with my net by the margin of the river, on whose farther shore-Ben Cruachan stands majestic. Here in a succession of fields I found Tanagra cherophyllata and Hmmelesia albulata very plentiful; and in one limited space Procris statices abounded. Farther on, where the ground was uncultivated, Melanippe tristata and M. subtristata rose in numbers as I pushed through the ferns; and a little promiscuous beating among stunted bushes overhanging the river produced a few other species of Geometre, viz., Acidalia fumata, Numeria pulveraria, and Cidaria corylata. Owing to the want of variety in foliage the woods round about did not prove very productive ; but following the course of the little River Nant, which meets the Awe at Taynuilt,—and is by the way a capital trout stream,—lI devoted several dull mornings to beating the copse wood for two miles up stream, and thus made several additions to my list of Geometre, but none of importance: Hphyra punctaria, Mela- nippe hastata, Cidaria populata, and some pretty forms of Boarmia repandata, mtermingled with commoner species, such as Larentia pectinitaria, Lomaspilis marginata, and Melanippe ocellata, were the result of my labours,—an insufficient reward for the invariable arm-ache and occasional drenching with which I returned to the hotel. Just before leaving the locality I discovered a birch wood where Metrocampa margaritata abounded, as many as five speci- mens responding on one occasion to a single blow of the beating- stick. Evening netting procured for me specimens of Hmmelesia afinitata and EH. blandiata, Larentia salicata, Miana arcuosa, and other common species of Geometre and Noctue. The dearth of butterflies seemed remarkable to me after my southern experience. Of this group Argynnis Aglaia proved the most abundant and interesting. On June 18th I came upon NOTES FROM TAYNUILT. 15 a great number flying along a slope on the moorland, mostly fresh from the chrysalis. -The males were remarkable for the intensity of their colours, and the females for their great size and rich brown hues, some suffused almost to blackness. I netted a pretty variety of the male in which the usual markings of the anterior wings are superseded by graceful black lines. A dingy type of Chortobius Pamphilus was fairly plentiful everywhere ; Lycena Alexis scarce; a few Argynnis Selene turned up in open spaces of the woods; and on June 19th I took a couple of Melitea Artemis in a marshy field: they were literally worn to shadows, but. I fancy the species would have proved plentiful there at the end of May. A solitary granite boulder jutting out from the interminably heather-clad moorland seemed to be a favourite resting-place for some species. Here ina space of about sixty yards square I secured a few fine and strongly-marked Satyrus Semele; also Zygena filipendule, some with confluent spots; and in their company two solitary Z. nubigena; also Dasydia obfuscata, Larentia cesiata, Anaitis plagiata. Some tolerably dark Cidaria russata sitting close on the rock, but sufficiently wary to fly off at my approach, also occurred here; but owing to the nature of the spot were easier to see than to capture. Perhaps my most successful effort was sugaring. I had little more than a week of it, as towards the close of my stay the weather turned out something more unpleasant than the proverbially “saft,” and night-work was out of the question. However I managed to obtain thirty-five species of Noctue by this method of capture, among which my best takes were Aplecta occulta, A. herbida, A. tincta, Hadena rectilinea, and Acronycta leporina. My southern experience made the northern forms of many of the common Noctue appear very novel. Notably so was Hadena pisi, tinged with grayish blue, and Aplecta nebulosa in some instances nearly white and almost without markings. Xylophasia rurea var. combusta, and black and brown X. polyodon, naturally occurred, while Hadena adusta proved a nuisance. In consequence of the northern latitude, sugaring in June at Taynuilt necessitated late hours, and my first round was never attempted before half-past ten; but as I found suitable posts at the back of a copse, within five minutes’ walk of the hotel, this did not matter. 16 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. The locality is too near the sea-level to afford a chance of capturing the mountain butterflies, or such insects as Noctua sobrina or Pachnobia hyperborea; but I am of opinion that a climb and investigation of Ben Cruachan would prove profitable. This I did not attempt, as I was looking forward to a short visit to Rannoch, where I afterwards obtained Erebia Cassiope and Chortobius Davus in plenty. Putting aside the natural beauty of the spot, I am inclined to think Taynuilt would prove worthy of something better than the desultory working I was able to give it. I know of no other accommodation there beyond the hotel, which is commodious and comfortable. Auburn Villa, Putney, December, 1880. ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES, CAPTURES, &c. Vanessa AntTriopaA.—I am pleased to be able to hand you another instance of the capture of Vanessa Antiopa, which I took near Aldershot, on August 20th, 1880, while it was sitting on an oak tree, which I had sugared on the previous night.—F. J. GaLsworTHy; 8, Queen’s Gate, Hyde Park, London, 8.W. ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ORGYIA ANTIQUA.—The subject of the geographical distribution of plants and animals is altogether too deep to be touched upon in a small paper, yet there are occasionally matters in connection therewith that present themselves to our notice, and that cannot be explained away with the facility that attends the disposition of many questions of this character. There is no doubt that, apart from the agency of Nature’s laws, human assistance, or rather the results of civilisation, have conduced in no small degree to tend to distribute not only plants, but quadrupeds and insects. The Norwegian rat, which has entirely replaced the English rat, is a strong proof of this; and the constant appearance of tropical Coleoptera at docks and similar places bears out the argument. But how are we to account for the almost universal distribution of the wingless-wifed Orgyia antiqua, or in fact any of the Lepidoptera whose females are apterous; human agency in this case will not bear consideration, as we have no reason to suppose that its existence here or on the Continent dates from any NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. ey particular historic time. Again, it is quite out of the question to imagine that its female was ever, even under the most favourable circumstances, blown across the silver streak; for not only is its ponderous body incapable of such a feat, but it usually deposits its eggs on the exterior of its cocoon, so that it would not therefore present a chance of being caught by the wind. Had the larva been a smooth one, or even had the eggs been a suitable food for any bird, animal, reptile, or fish, a reason might possibly have been traced for distribution in this manner ; but the larva is hairy, and perhaps no insect is so little molested as Orgyia antiqua in any of its stages. How then has this insect become so widely distributed, whose eggs are deposited on the cocoon of their mother’s pupa, and whose larve crawl to the nearest food to begin the battle of life. The argument may be put forward that it took place before the present arrangement of the Continent and islands,—in fact when these islands were part and parcel of the rest of Europe; but if this were so, how did it survive the great climatic changes which attended and followed that period. It could not have done so, and the question remains: How are we to account for the great distribution of those Lepidoptera whose females are apterous, and whose larve are not molested by other creatures ?—H. Lovett ; Croydon. ODONESTIS POTATORIA, var.—The variety in the male of this species of the pale yellow colour of the female, as recorded by Mr. Bowyer, in the December number of the ‘Entomologist’ (Entom. xiii. 310), is of rather frequent occurrence in Wicken Fen. The great majority, too, of the females I bred from larve brought from Wicken last June were of a much paler and duller yellow than in the ordinary type of the species.—Geo. T. Porrirt ; Highroyd House, Huddersfield, December 4, 1880. OpoNESTIS PoTaToRIA, var.—As all records of varieties are worth noting, I wish to mention that I bred this summer, from a very small batch of larve, a good variety of Odonestis potatoria, a female, having a near approach to the colouring of the male, the wings being of a very dark shade, and the general markings resembling the usual decided character of the male insect.—Ep. Lovett; Holly Mount, Croydon, December, 1880. Rare Lepmworrera at Ligur.—While returning from an unprofitable sugaring excursion on the sandhills here, last D 18 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. September, I took a fair specimen of Laphygma exigua from a street-lamp. I find that in this neighbourhood the lamps often repay a visit. Among sundry things I have captured from them, at odd times, I find I have taken Hnnomos alnaria, Deiopeia pulchella, and Leucania vitellina—R. Harpour; 1, Land- port Cottages, Deal, November 24, 1880. APLECTA OCCULTA NEAR Wuirspy.—Towards the end of August my brother and I were fortunate enough to catch two specimens of Aplecta occulta, one in very good condition, at Whitby.— C. Dasuwoop Syeti; St. John’s College, Oxford, Nov. 18, 1880. ABRAXAS GROSSULARIATA DOUBLE-BROODED.—In referring to my diary I find the following :—“ November 1st, 1874, a friend of mine, Mr. Holden, brought me three pup and three larve of Abraxas grossulariata. He took them from a celery plant, and there were neither gooseberry nor currant bushes in the garden where they occurred. ‘The insects emerged from the pupz on November 25th, but they were in no way different from the normal type, except a little smaller. The three larve died.’”— W. Jounson; 66, Upper Warwick Street, Liverpool, Dec. 8, 1880. [The late Mr. Chapman, of Glasgow, visited Ailsa Crag some years ago, and found Abraxas larve feeding in numbers upon Cotyledon umbilicus. If we remember rightly they produced the ordinary form of A. grossulariata. Of course navelwort is more nearly allied to the Ribesiacee than is celery.—Ep.] Notes From RanworrH Frn.— The last twelve days of August I spent in the neighbourhood of Ranworth Fen. My stay was not by any means a successful one entomologically, the paucity of nocturnal Lepidoptera being very marked, and nothing but common species falling to my lot. Although the weather was on the whole satisfactory, I saw little or nothing on the wing, in the way of moths. I sugared the alder-bushes by the “ Broad,” and in other parts of the fens, with little success; some nights, although favourable to all appearance, yielding but few insects, and many of those that did come were worn. Noctua xanthographa was on some nights a complete pest, and N. rubi pretty abundant. I took a few Apamea jibrosa, but not in very good condition, accompanied by such species as Amphipyra tragopogonis, Mania maura, and other species not worth naming. ‘Two nights’ sugaring in a large plantation near the Broad at South Walsham, NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 19 where I anticipated great things, judging from the aspect of the place, only yielded a few Zryphena janthina, Noctua rubi, &e. I also netted Leucania phragmitidis, Lithosia stramineola, and a few Hpione apicaria. Such are the meagre results of a fortnight’s work in this part of the fens; I trust notes from other localities may be of a more cheering nature.—Ropert Lappiman; Norwich, September 6, 1880. VarintTies oF Leprpoprera.—I have taken a fine variety of Chortobius Pamphilus this season, apparently fresh from the pupa, the whole of the wings, except the fringes, being of a clear whitish brown; this I took at Harrow, on the Pinner Road. I also took four very fine specimens of Parapony stratiotalis, one of them, a large female, with almost all the blotches running into one, making it look like a totally different insect——F. SHarp; 16, Huntsworth Terrace, Edgware Road, W., Nov. 8, 1880. How, Insecrs cross THE CHANNEL.—Wishing to examine one of the means of transport offered to insects across the Channel, I searched the steamers on a recent voyage both going to and returning from the Continent. On my voyage I had the good fortune to find two Bryophila glandifera, one Triphena pronuba, one Cosmia trapezina, one Xylocampa lithoriza, besides several bees, wasps, &c. On my return I found three Plusia gamma and one Mania maura. These are of course only examples of what is usually taking place during the summer season. ‘The continual importation of foreign specimens may have an effect on the lepidopterous fauna of the county.—J. H. Lercu; Shanklin, Oct. 9, 1880. CaptuRE oF Nowa cENTONALIS.—While collecting on the south coast in August, 1879, I took two or three little moths, which I was afterwards informed were Nola centonalis. Being too late to take any more then, I had to wait another twelve months for it. So last August I thoroughly worked the locality, and succeeded in taking a few more, but they appeared very sparingly indeed.—R. Hargpour; 1, Landport Cottages, Deal, November 24, 1880. ACIDALIA OCHRATA BRED.—The ten pupe mentioned in my notice of the larva of this species (Entom. xiii. 806) have all duly hatched. The first moth appeared December 2nd, and the last December 16th, all perfect specimens. The tone of colour 20 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. is not quite so deeply ochreous as in the caught examples.— W.H. Tuawewi; 38, Lewisham Road, Greenwich, December, 1880. A New Evprrnecia.—At the meeting of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society on December 20th last, Mr. Nicholas Cooke, of Liscard, Cheshire, announced that a moth which he had exhibited at the previous meeting was a Hupithecia undoubtedly new to Britain. The insect had been bred by Miss Greening, of Warrington, during July this year. This Hupithecia is easily distinguished from any other species of this genus in the list of British Lepidoptera by possessing a dorsal chain of nearly white spots on the abdomen ; otherwise it appears closely allied to l’. lariceata. In compliment to Miss Greening, Mr. Cooke proposed to give it the provisional name of Hupithecia Blancheata. —W.E. Suarp; Colonial Chambers, Liverpool, December, 1880. CEDESTIS GYSSELINELLA IN ENnGLAND.—I have to record the capture of this rare Scotch Tineina as having occurred on this side of the border. I regret I cannot give the precise locality of its capture, for I am again suffering all the annoyance of finding some collector has either wantonly or carelessly well-nigh exter- minated another local species, this last sufferer being the lovely little Cidaria reticulata. When I went to look for the larve of this species as usual this season, I was disgusted to find the very loeal food-plant, Impatiens, had been destroyed and pulled up, and this quite a month before seeding time.—J. B. Hopaxinson; 15, Spring Bank, Preston, December 6, 1880. CRAMBUS VERELLUS AT CamBripGE.—In August, 1877, I caught a specimen of this Crambus at light amongst C. falsellus, which was common. ‘The following year I caught three more in July, also at light. They have remained unnamed till this year, when a comparison with the figure given some years ago in the ‘Annual’ decided the question.—A. I. Grirrirn; Cambridge, December, 1880. OccURRENCE OF A New Bririsy ‘T'richoprmron.— At the last meeting of the Glasgow Natural-History Society I exhibited specimens of Molanna palpata, M‘Lach., a species of caddis-fly new to Britain. It has hitherto been known only from Finland and Siberia; and a specimen from St. Petersburg was found among Kolenati’s types of MZ. angustata in the Vienna Museum. NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 21 The remarkable form of the third joint of the maxillary palpi in both sexes at once distinguishes it from its congeners. The above species was taken during my stay last summer at Cannich, Strath Glass, Inverness-shire, and occurred commonly all through August. It was the common caddis-fly at all parts of the Strath visited by me. I found it among the margins of lochs by brushing, with the net, the overhanging heather, &c. I cannot remember having seen it flying without its having been first disturbed. M. angustata, De Geer, is the only other British species of the genus.—J. J. Kine; 207, Sauchiehall St., Glasgow. ADDITIONS TO THE CasuAL InHaBiTaNts oF Gaxus (see Entom. xl. 113, and xiii. 252).—From pierced galls of Cynips Kollari, collected during winter, I bred in May last four specimens of Comopteryx tineiformis, Curt., and three of Cemiostoma Wailes- ella, Staint. As many of the galls occurred at a waste border of a field likely to be inhabited by Genista tinctoria, and some of them on twigs only a few inches from the ground, they might have been well over-topped by this plant. Iam unable to assert that the plant grew there, but suggest this to account for the presence of the moths. For remarks on the pupation of the Coniopteryx, see Westwood’s ‘ Introduction,’ 1.49. From a gall of Andricus terminalis I bred, April 4th, a specimen of Hemerobius nervosus, Fab. To my disappointment these were the only inter- lopers I bred.—J. E. Fiuetcuer ; Worcester, November, 1880. ScIATHERAS TRIcHOTUS, Ratz.—In my notice of the Chalcidide parasitic on Calandra (Sitophilus), Entom. xii. 47, I gave the curious tufted-winged species as Cerocephala formiciformis, with the string of synonymy almost as copied from Foerster (Hym. Stud. ii. 41). I then felt nearly certain that my specimens, winged in both sexes, could not be the same as the apterous species figured by Halliday. Just lately Mr. HE. A. Butler has sent me a plentiful supply of the true Theocolax formiciformis in both sexes. These were shaken from the old Anobiwm-eaten wood of an aquarium- stand, and it is certainly parasitic on Anobiwm, as given by most authors. This showed me that my corn-weevil parasites were a distinct species, and they certainly are Ratzeburg’s Sciatheras trichotus. While looking up the numerous synonyms, and failing to find a copy of Westwood’s early paper, published in the ‘London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine,’ the Professor ae THE ENTOMOLOGIST. referred me to his ‘Thesaurus Entomologicus Oxoniensis.’ There these three interesting and somewhat aberrant genera are clearly differentiated. Although abundantly distinct, Foerster had treated them as synonyms; and Dr. Reinhard gives Sciatheras as a synonym of Cerocephala, saying that from the peculiar structure, especially of head and wing, there can be no doubt of their identity (Berl. Ent. Zeit. i. 75). Ratzeburg’s Sciatheras trichotus (‘Die Ichneumonen,’ ii. 209, pl. iii., fig. 1) is described by Westwood as new, under the name of Chatospila clegans (Thes. Ent. Ox., p. 187), and beautifully figured, with several details, on plate xxv., fig. 10; this from an old specimen given him by Mr. Raddon, who bred it from maize, where undoubtedly, like my specimens, it was parasitic on Calandra. However, Ratzeburg’s single specimen was in all probability parasitic on Hylesinus fraxini. He speaks of it as “the most remarkable of all the Chalcidide.” In the ‘Entomologist’ (Entom. xu. 47) Cerocephala formiciformis, Westw., Walk. (et synonymia), should be altered to Sciatheras trichotus, Ratz. (= Cheetospila elegans, Westw.)—E. A. Frrcx; Maldon, Essex. UNUSUAL ABUNDANCE OF CERTAIN INsSEcTs.—If we may judge from accounts that have appeared in newspapers and magazines, the year 1880 will be notable for the occurrence of certain insects in unusually great numbers, both at home and abroad. My own experience is also in the same direction, as the following notes from my pocket-book will show:—June 25. To Birchland Wood for afternoon’s collecting. Beset by hosts of small flies and brimps (Vabanide). Soon driven from the wood. Six brimps on my Jegs at one time. Was never so set upon by flies before, and should not have thought it possible in this country. The day was sultry and storm-like, and insects appeared ravenous. The instant I stopped to examine a plant or the contents of my net, two or three common flies attacked each eye and the corners of my mouth; several paid the same attention to my hands, while the brimps did their utmost to draw blood from my legs. Under these circumstances, I acknowledged myself beaten, and retired. —July 1 to 14. Several notes of my horses being terribly bitten by brimps, when at work. The animals were almost unmanageable from the continued torment, their sides being often spotted with blood-drops.—July 20. Horses rendered so restive from brimp- bites while mowing, that one was sent home as beyond control.— NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 23 August 26. A sultry day. Myriads of thrips, borne on puffs of hot air. I attended Hamstreet Lamb Fair, and the hundreds of handkerchiefs in hand removing the “‘ticklers” from the face and neck of the owner was a remarkable sight. At certain times far more attention was paid to hexapods than to quadrupeds. Besides the above I may mention that here, as elsewhere, wasps were more plentiful than they have been for many years past; aphides abounded on everything green, and caterpillars were so numerous as to threaten the very existence of all the cabbage-tribe in my garden. My window-panes have been striped with the ladders made by the larve of Pieris rape, when seeking a place to pupate, and on one day I destroyed no less than two hundred and forty-five larvee and pupe of this species round my windows and doors.—Tuos. H. Harr; Kingsnorth, Kent, Oct. 26, 1880. SIREX GIGAS AT SUGAR.—One evening in August, while sugar- ing for Aplecta occulta at Sandburn, in York, I was rather startled to see a large and perfect specimen of Sirex gigas enjoying herself on the sweets I had prepared for my other visitors. Is not this a very unusual occurrence ?—W. Prest ; 13, Holgate Road, York. Hornets in Norrotk.—My garden here has been full of them all the summer, and they and the wasps between them devoured certainly half of a magnificent crop of plums. I find several of the hornets every night on my sugar, and one morn- ing I discovered a handsome nest of them in a loft. It hangs suspended from a beam, and is about the size of a moderate pumpkin. If you or any of your correspondents can tell me how to destroy the insects without injuring the nest I should be greatly obliged.—R. S. SvanpEen ; The White House, Alby, Norwich. Hacecrrston EnromonoctcaL Society. — Exurpirrion. — The Annual Exhibition of the above Society was held November 25th last. The exhibits were confined, with few exceptions, to the captures of the past season. Amongst the more striking boxes shown we remarked the following :—Mr. J. W. Jobson, two cases of Lepidoptera taken in the New Forest, and long series of Stauropus fagi taken in Epping Forest. This exhibit was notable for the remarkably fine condition of the insects and the care used in preservation. Messrs. Pearson, T. Hedle, H. Barnes, C. H. Willams, and Jobson showed some very beautifully preserved larvee and life-histories of Lepidoptera. The latter exhibitor’s . 24 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. larvee included that of Acosmetia caliginosa, reared from eggs, and we believe identified for the first time. It was impossible not to observe the remarkable improvement upon the last Exhibition in the preservation of larve. Mr. Boden showed a series of Peronea caledoniana, taken in Kent; Mr. Meek a series of Hupecilia thuleana, Vaughan, recently added to the British fauna. Mr. Mardle brought a fine melanic variety of Hemerophila abruptaria, and Mr. Hedle a dark form of Botys urticalis; Mr. W. J. Harper a fine series of rare moths, including Plusia bractea from Lan- cashire, P. orichalcea, Dasycampa rubiginea, Acronycta strigosa, Cymatophora fluctuosa ; Mr. Southey two drawers of Lepidoptera, chiefly from Highgate, in which we noticed some fine Hupithecia dodoneata. Mr. J. A. Clark showed the specimen of Charocampa celerio taken in Hackney, which was recorded in error at p. 241, vol. xiii., of Entom., as Deilephila livornica; also some fine varieties of Boarmia repandata from Highgate. Mr. Ernest Anderson showed a portfolio of very beautiful paintings from China of all orders of insects, executed on rice paper by Chinese artists. A large number of persons interested in Entomology attended the Exhibition.—J. T. C. West Lonpon Enromonocican Socrery.—The Annual Exhibi- tion of this Society recently took place in the Society’s rooms. The following members exhibited drawers or boxes of insects :— Messrs. Goodwin, Longley, Meek, Dow, Gates, Reynolds, Russell, Phipps, Hanson, Silcox, and others. The exhibit of the evening. was a very fine series of several hundreds of varieties of Abraxas grossulariata, lent by Dr. Harper through Mr. Meek. This was probably the finest lot of varieties ever gathered into one exhibit. Another striking case was of wild plants and flowers, preserved by a new process by Mr. J. English, of Epping. Mr. Boden showed a handsome box of Lepidoptera, and Mr. Meek an interest- ing and instructive series of British and German Tortrices. The meeting was well attended, and the exhibits generally good.—In. Tue ‘American Enromonocist’ has been incorporated with the ‘American Naturalist.’—-Ep. Errata.—tIn Dr. White’s article on Orthezia, Entom. vol. xiii., p- 304, read “£1784 and 1785” for “1874 and 1875”; and at p- 805, line 13, for ‘‘ there is many” read ‘‘ this is merely.” THE ENTOMOLOGIST. Vou. XIV.] FEBRUARY, 1881. [No. 218, VARIETY OF ARGYNNIS LATHONIA. ARGYNNIS LATHONIA, var. Tue beautiful variety, figured above, was taken by me in August, 1876, at the Christiania side of the foot of the Fille Fjeld, in Norway.