a pupa. The perfect insect appears in July. I am indebted for these very curious larvæ, as well as the following, to Mr. D. T. Button, who bred them from the eggEdward Newman.

Description of the Larva of Acidalia inornata.—Rests in a straight posture; does not fall off its food when touched. Head prone: body flattened, dilated at the sides; segments well defined, and each divided by transverse furrows into eight rings; these rings in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th and following segments are composed of warts, which emit short stumpy bristles. Colour red-brown, with little variation of shade, but having a whitish median spot on the back of the 6th and 7th segments. Feeds on Salix Russelliana (Bedford willow), and is full fed on the 30th of May, when it spins a slight web among the willow leaves, and therein changes to a pupa. The moth appeared on the 24th of June.-Id.

Description of the Larva of Corycia taminata.-Larva naked. Head and body green or purplish brown; a broad, purplish dorsal stripe, edged with white; spiracular line white; spiracles black; a narrow white band encircles the border at the junction of each segment. Feeds on wild cherry.—B. H. Birks (in the ‘Intelligencer'); Stonor, Henley-on-Thames.

Description of the Larva of Halia Wavaria.-Rests in a nearly straight posture, but with the head erected and porrected. When disturbed falls from its food bent double, and feigns death, remaining a long time perfectly without motion. Body slightly dilated at the sides, otherwise uniformly cylindrical: head lead-coloured, with black markings, the disposition of which differ in different individuals: back varies from an obscure apple-green colour to a decided lead colour, scarcely two individuals being precisely similar in hue, but all are longitudinally marked with approximate, waved, interrupted smoke-coloured lines; belly nearly coloured like the back; sides having each segment adorned with an amorphous canary-coloured blotch, which blotches give the appearance of a lateral yellow stripe. On all parts of the body are shining black warts, each of which emits from the summit a single black bristle; four of these warts are arranged in a transverse series on the back of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th segments, and four in a square on the back of the 5th and following segments, and three in each canary-coloured mark on the sides form a triangle, which comprises the spiracles; other similar bristle-emitting warts occur beneath: legs intensely black; claspers leadcoloured. Feeds on Ribes grossularia (common goooseberry), which it strips of its leaves much in the same manner as the gooseberry grub, a species of sawfly, with which it is often confounded. It is full fed by the third week in June, when it spins a slight web among the gooseberry leaves. The perfect moths appear on the wing throughout July.-Edward Newman.

Description of the Larva of Aspilates strigillaria.-Rests in nearly a straight posture, but falls from its food, tucks in its head and feigns death when touched or disturbed. Head rather porrected, simple, not divided on the crown, rather less in circumference than the body body uniformly cylindrical, emitting here and there throughout its length short black bristles; it has two small dorsal warts on the 8th segment, two larger and nipple-shaped humps on the 9th segment, and two still smaller excrescences on the 10th segment, besides many other minute warts on different parts of the body ; on the 13th segment, immediately above the anal claspers, and below the anal aperture, are two short points or processes directed backwards. The colours are very obscure, gray-brown of different shades, producing a somewhat mottled appearance, and the lighter colour assuming the form of narrow longitudinal stripes. The egg is laid in

summer or autumn on Calluna vulgaris (common ling), and the young larva hybernates. It feeds again throughout the month of April, and is full fed early in May. It then spins a slight web among the twigs of its food-plant, and therein changes to a pupa. The moth appears about the 18th of June. I am indebted to Mr. Thomas Huckett for this and the following larva.- Edward Newman.

Description of the Larva of Hybernia defoliaria.—Rests in a curved position; does not tuck in its head, feign death, or fall off its food-plant when disturbed; head rather large, not notched on the crown; body uniformly cylindrical, without humps. Head without gloss, brown: body with a broad dorsal area of a clear brown colour; this area is bounded on each side by a very distinct but narrow, waved, black stripe, and is also adorned with gray markings, which are particularly conspicuous at the interstices of the segments where these approach the black boundary stripe; below the boundary stripe the body is bright yellow; the spiracles are white, and the region surrounding each spiracle brown; belly greenish yellow; legs and claspers pale. A beautiful but very abundant larva: it feeds on Corylus avellana (hazel), Cratægus Oxyacantha (whitethorn), Quercus Robur (oak), and many other trees, and is full fed at the middle of June, when it changes to a pupa on the surface of the earth. The moth appears in October.-Id.

Description of the Larva of Eupithecia dodoneata. Var. 1. Ground colour ochreous-red. Central dorsal line very dusky olive, almost black, interrupted. Down the centre of back a series of blackish or dusky olive arrow-shaped blotches, reduced in size on the posterior, and merged in the central line on the anterior segments. Subdorsal lines slender, dusky, bordered with dull yellow. Spiracular line alternating between dull yellow and dusky olive. Between subdorsal and spiracular lines a row of slanting bright yellow stripes, interspersed with dusky blotches. Segmental divisions orange-red. Body thickly studded with minute white tubercles, and thinly clothed with whitish hairs. In appearance strongly resembles the larva of Eupithecia virgaureata.

Var. 2. Ground colour pale yellowish green. similar to those of var. 1, but much paler olive. and lateral stripes greenish yellow.

Central dorsal line and blotches Spiracular line, segmental divisions

Var. 3. Ground colour orange-red. Back tinged and suffused with dull yellowish green. Dorsal blotches wanting. Central dorsal line reddish brown or olive, enlarged in the centre of each median segment. Subdorsal lines same colour, slender. Spiracular line and lateral stripes greenish yellow, the latter indistinct. Strongly resembles the larva of Eupithecia abbreviata. The larvæ from which the above description was taken were reared from eggs kindly sent me by Mr. M'Lachlan, of Forest Hill. They fed on oak, from which tree I have been in the habit of occasionally beating the larvæ for some years past. I have no doubt that it also feeds on whitethorn, as my friend Mr. Greene has frequently taken the pupa under the bark of this tree, at some distance from any oaks. It is a very delicate larva. Almost all mine, this summer, died when full fed. They seemed to prefer the youngest and most succulent oak leaves, and I principally attribute their death to the difficulty of finding a constant fresh supply of newly-expanded foliage. Pupa either enclosed in a slight earthen cocoon or under bark; dark dusky red; upper edge of wing-cases brighter red than the rest of the pupa has a rough, wrinkled appearance. Perfect insect appears in May and beginning of June.-H. Harpur Crewe; The Rectory, Drayton-Beauchamp, July 15. Description of the Larva of Cidaria suffumata.-Rests in nearly a straight posture, its

feet as well as claspers holding the food-plant; the head generally porrected and elevated when disturbed it raises the fore part of its body and tucks in its head. Head rather small body with a rough or wrinkled skin, and both head and body emit short scattered bristles, each bristle emanating from a scarcely perceptible wart; all the segments centrally swollen, especially below, but without dorsal humps. Colour of the head pale brown, freckled with black colour of the body brown of various shades; the dorsal area decidedly darker than the ventral area, and separated by a clear line of demarcation; the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th segments have the same pale hue above and below; the 2nd, 3rd and 4th segments are marked by a median whitish dorsal stripe; the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th with a dark V-shaped mark, pointing towards the head, and its arms extending on each side as far as the spiracles; each V-shaped mark contains a median dark mark, somewhat shaped like an arrow-head, and bordered with a pale margin; the belly is traversed by gray, waved, interrupted and not clearly defined stripes, extending throughout its entire length; the spiracles are intensely black. I am indebted to the Rev. J. Hellins for this larva, who fed it on Galium Mollugo (great hedge bedstraw): with me it ate Asperula odorata (sweet woodruff), apparently with great enjoyment, but its natural food-plant is unknown to me: it spun among the leaves of the woodruff towards the middle of June, and the moth appeared in July.-Edward Newman.

Description of the Larva of Cidaria testata.—Rests in a straight posture, and does not fall off its food-plant when disturbed; head flat, porrected; body cylindrical, without humps. Head putty-coloured, with darker dots and reticulations: body putty-coloured; back with a slender median brown stripe; sides with two dingy white stripes, the upper straight, the lower undulating: the spiracles are placed below the second white stripe, and are intensely black; the belly has six whitish stripes, of which the median ones are closely approximate: the divisions of the segments are marked by slender rings of a pink tinge. Feeds on Betula alba (birch) and Salix capræa (sallow), and is full fed at the end of May, when it spins a few threads, and draws together the leaves of its food-plant, making a very open kind of net-work cocoon, so open indeed as not in any degree to hide the enclosed pupa, which will even drop out through the meshes if shaken. The pupa is rather long, and very pointed at the tail: it is of pale putty-colour, with a broad conspicuous median brown stripe down the thorax and abdomen the oblique posterior margins of the thorax are also of the same dark colour: the cephalic and thoracic envelopes are dingy brown, lined with darker brown, by which colour the antennæ, legs, wing-rays, &c., are clearly indicated; the envelope of the antennæ slightly exceeds that of the wings in length; on the abdomen is a median dark stripe below, corresponding with that above, and the lateral region between these two stripes is spotted with dark brown. The perfect insects emerge from the pupa about Midsummer Day. I am indebted to Mr. Thomas Huckett for the loan of the larvæ and pupa whence my descriptions are taken.-Id.

Occurrence of Platypteryx sicula near Bristol.—I have to record the occurrence, during the last month, of Platypteryx sicula at Leigh Wood, the same locality where the three previous examples of this species were taken. Several beautiful specimens fell to my lot; three specimens were also taken by a friend who was with me at the time. I am not aware of any others having been taken.-George Harding; Stapleton, near Bristol, July 13, 1861.

Description of the Larva of Cilix spinula.— When at rest the incrassated anterior extremity slightly elevated, and the head tucked in or bent under, and touching the

leaf on which the larva is standing: when handled or disturbed it does not feign death or fall off its food, but remains motionless, clinging with great tenacity to the leaf; in this operation it uses the ventral claspers only, the legs not touching the leaf, and the caudal extremity being elevated. Head prone, with a bitid crown, its divisions conspicuous, but obtuse: 2nd segment with four minute pointed warts, transversely arranged; 3rd segment with two larger dorsal warts, placed transversely; 4th segment with two still larger dorsal warts, also placed transversely; 11th segment with a transverse dorsal protuberance; 12th segment with a pair of minute dorsal warts, placed transversely every wart terminates in a minute bristle: ventral claspers eight, on the usual segments; caudal claspers aborted, or soldered together and forming a single terminal and gradually attenuated spine or spike, which never appears to touch the leaf on which the larva is feeding, but to be elevated in the air without occupation; at the base of this spike is a minute wart on each side: the body is altogether rugose, and the skin pitted with small depressions. The colour is dingy brown, with

a narrow median darker dorsal stripe, and numerous minute rivulet markings, and also a pale lateral elevated line on each side of the 12th segment. Feeds on Cratægus Oxyacantha (whitethorn), and is full fed the first week in July. When full fed it spins a tough gummy cocoon, attaching it to a twig of the hawthorn, generally in the axil of one of the thorns, and fixing, on the exterior, fragments of the still green leaves in such a manner as to conceal the cocoon effectually from sight; in this the pupa remains not longer than two or three weeks: the moth appears on the wing towards the end of July.-Edward Newman.

Description of the Larva of Clostera anachoreta. Does not roll in a ring, fall, or feign death when disturbed; body slightly depressed, having a double skin-fold, extending its entire length, on each side in the region of the spiracles, a prominent median hump on the back of the 5th segment, and a second but less prominent median hump on the back of the 12th segment. Head black, slightly shining, beset with chestnut hairs: body velvety black, mottled and reticulated with smoky gray; a broad median stripe of dingy white down the back; this stripe is composed of square median markings, which are situated respectively on the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th segments; that on the 4th segment is isolated, but not so clearly defined as the others, which are strung together by four parallel whitish lines, situated in the interstices of the segments; these connecting lines are especially observable when the larva is crawling the humps on the 5th and 12th segments are bright chestnut-brown; that on the 5th emits a few longish chestnut-brown hairs; and there are a series of markings of a similar colour along each side on the elevations of the skin-folds, both above and below the spiracles: the 5th segment is entirely without the median white mark, its site being occupied by the chestnut-brown hump, and on each side of this is a somewhat square spot of snowy whiteness, and entirely surrounded with intense velvety black: on each side of each of the square white dorsal markings is also a squarish spot of intense velvety black: the back of the 2nd, 3rd and 13th segments have a transverse series of small chestnut-coloured prominences, emitting chestnut-coloured hairs; the belly is pale smoky gray; the legs black; the claspers smoky flesh-coloured. This beautiful larva was first found by my friend Mr. Sidney Cooper, feeding as he believes on Salix capræa (sallow); afterwards by Dr. Knaggs, feeding on Populus nigra (black poplar): Mr. Cooper only took two specimens, not being aware of the value of his capture until the perfect insect emerged: Dr. Knaggs was more fortunate, and, although he obtained but a few individuals, has succeeded in maintaining VOL. XIX. 3 D

a succession of broods. To this gentleman I am indebted for the opportunity of describing the larva. In confinement it feeds voraciously on either of the plants mentioned. The two localities given for the insect are certainly calculated (if not designed) to lead our assiduous larva-hunters astray: "in the neighbourhood of London" is literally untrue: "home counties" is within the verge of truth, but conveys no idea whatever of the exact truth. As I have been favoured with a knowledge of the spot under the seal of secrecy, I can say no more on the subject. The specimen kindly given me by Dr. Knaggs spun a tough cocoon between two sallow leaves, on the 14th of July.-Edward Newman.

Occurrence of Notodonta bicolor in Staffordshire.-At the ordinary monthly meeting of the Manchester Entomological Society, held on the 3rd of July, Mr. John Smith, an artizan collector resident here, exhibited a specimen of Notodonta bicolor, captured by himself at Burnt Wood, Staffordshire, in the latter part of June last. The specimen, a fine male, though a little rubbed, through being boxed out of the net, excited much interest at the meeting, as being the first of the species known to have occurred in Great Britain proper, and also as somewhat of a reward for their perseverance in the working of a distant locality, of a small knot of entomologists, among whom zeal for the true progress of their favourite study, and the wish to give an unselfish example, are made to supply the places of little means and still less leisure.-J. Hardy, pro Sec.

Description of the Larva of Episema cæruleocephala.-Will not roll in a ring, feign death, or fall off its food when handled or disturbed, but clings with greater tenacity, drawing in and trying to conceal its head; head small; body almost uniformly cylindrical, transversely wrinkled. Head glaucous or blue-green, with two black spots on the crown general colour of the body glaucous-green above, tinged with smoke-colour, and having a median rather broad yellow stripe interrupted at each junction of two segments; on each side, just below the spiracles, is another yellow stripe, seated on a longitudinally raised fold of the skin; below this the body is smoky green, shading off to yellow-green on the belly on every segment are numerous black warts, each of which emits a single black bristle; the most conspicuous of these warts are four on the back of every segment; the anterior nearer together than the posterior pair: the yellow median stripe passes between them, leaving two on each side: each of the warts seems to acquire a greater intensity of colour from its being surrounded by a paler space: the legs are shining, glaucous and black-spotted; the claspers opaque green, with two black spots on each. It feeds on Cratagus Oxyacantha (whitethorn), and is full fed about the middle of June, when it spins an oblong cocoon, formed of minute particles of the rind of the whitethorn twigs, small fragments of the green leaves, and an abundance of silk; this is generally attached to the under side of a hawthorn twig: in this it changes to a pupa, and remains in that state about two months, the moth commonly appearing in September.-Edward Newman.

Description of the Larva of Charadrina Alsines. Before last moult :-Back and subdorsal parts dusky purplish brown. Sides and belly yellowish gray. Central dorsal line whitish. Subdorsal line edged with black. Central line bordered on either side of each segment by a large black tubercular spot. Spiracular line waved, blackish. Between subdorsal and spiracular lines a row of blackish tubercular spots, smaller than the dorsal ones. Both dorsal and lateral tubercles surmounted by a longish white hair. Head dusky yellowish brown. Belly mottled on the sides with dusky markings. After last moult: Ground colour pale reddish drab or buff. Back more or less tinged with purplish brown. Central dorsal line whitish, bordered with black at the