190 A. E. GIBBS NOTES ON LEPIDOPTEEA 



caterpillar feeding upon heather are adorned with a number of 

 beautiful pink tubercles, each surrounded by a black ring, but in 

 the specimens from Bernard's Heath the tubercles were golden. 

 Probably this is the original colour, and the pink tint of the 

 heather-feeding individuals may be developed for the purposes of 

 protection in order to assimilate with the colour of the heather- 

 blossom. 



At the beginning of August Mr. Latchmore, of Hitchin, found 

 a beautiful specimen of the sallow kitten-moth {Jbicranura furculd) 

 on a sallow-leaf. It so strongly resembled the white deposit of a 

 bird that he nearly overlooked it. Unfortunately a friend to whom 

 he showed it shook it off the twig and killed it on the floor. 



Mr. Arthur Lewis reports the occurrence of the buUrush-moth 

 {Nonagria arundinis) in his grounds at Sparrowswick. When he 

 cut the bullrushes growing in a small pond in August or September, 

 he found that they had been attacked by the larvae of this moth, 

 and he succeeded in finding one pupa from which the perfect insect 

 had not yet emerged. He preserved it, but the drying of the rush 

 caused the moth to appear in a crippled state. The larva of this 

 species feeds in the stem of the bullrush, eating a gallery in the 

 pith until nearly fully fed, when it prepares a circular hole for its 

 escape, leaving only the epidermis. It then pupates in its gallery 

 and in due time emerges through the hole which it has made. 

 Mr. Arthur Griffith includes this moth in his Sandridge list, but 

 this is the only other Hertfordshire record. 



One of the insect-pests of last season, in the south-west of 

 Scotland, was the antler-moth ( Charaas granmiis). Miss Ormerod, 

 in her recently-issued 'Eeport,' alludes to this infestation as "one 

 of the most remarkable insect-appearances of the past year." The 

 caterpillars were present on the sheep-farms in vast numbers, and 

 as they feed upon the tender shoots of the grass they did in- 

 calculable mischief by devastating the pastures. This moth was 

 present in Hertfordshire, but not in any great numbers. In July 

 Mr. Albert Piffard, of Felden, Boxmoor, sent to me for identifica- 

 tion a specimen which he had taken in the day-time on heracleum. 



Mr. Bowyer tells me that Agrotis olscura {ravida) was the rarest 

 insect seen by him on Hertford Heath in 1894. There are only 

 two other Hertfordshire localities entered for it, namely, Hitchin 

 and East Barnet. Mr. Bowyer says that it is scarce in his 

 neighbourhood. 



In March and April sallow-beating proved fairly remunerative ; 

 indeed, this work was the most productive of the year. The 

 common Tmiiocampce were, as usual, very abundant, and for the 

 first time I took T. populeti at Bricket Wood. Mr. S. H. Spencer 

 took six specimens on the 19th and 24th of April, and Mr. Arthur 

 Lewis and I each captured a few. T. muiida was plentiful, but we 

 did not take a single specimen of T. gracilis. 



Mr. Cutts, of Nascot Wood, Watford, had two specimens of the 

 green arches-moth {Aplecta prasina) emerge in his insect-cage on 

 the 6th of June. This beautiful moth is far from common, but 



