NOTES ON COLLECTING IN WU. 171 



fanciuiiciila and M. strii/ilix, and a few nice Leiicania cunuiia and Z>. 

 lit/iaii/i/ria. I find the lattef insect comes more freely to sugared 

 thistle heads than anything else. 



On June 27th I paid a flying visit to Weston-super-Mare, in the 

 hopes of taking Asthcna lihnneri. This pretty little Geometer was not 

 uncounnon in the Kewstoke woods, but is not easily taken. They 

 rest rather high up on tree trunks, prmcipally wych-elm and ash, and 

 are very skittish, taking flight before one can reach them. By dint of 

 hard work I managed to get twenty good examples. Abra.vos sijlrata 

 swarmed everywhere, especially amongst ivy. Several lodis lartearia, 

 lleinitlwa strigata, Acidalia acersata, Sciiiiothisa litiirata, and Zondoii- 

 natha (p-isealis were beaten out of rough herbage. Butterflies were 

 rather scarce, the most common species was Paranje aei/cria, which at 

 this date was decidedl}' jiasxe. 



Owing to pressure of business I was unable to do much collecting 

 during July. I do not find anything of particular interest in my notes 

 of the little I was able to do. On the 11th my wife and I had an 

 enjoyable day in the Forest of Dean. We had visions of taking our 

 latest addition to the British list, r/c, AraKcIniia lerana, a single 

 example of which was taken near the Forest of Dean last year. We 

 failed to find any trace of that butterfly, although several have been 

 taken at Symonds Yat and other points of the Forest this season. We 

 were too early in any case. I believe this is a very local species even 

 on the Continent. Butterflies, and especially Ariij/miis adippe^ were 

 abundant. Several scores of A. adippe could have been taken had we 

 wanted them. Drj/att paphia was common, and three An/i/nms atflaia 

 were netted as they flew along a railway bank. The three Pierids, 

 Apliantojtiii^ Injpercoitiis and A'lopaea jiara {tlioiii)ia'<) were common, and 

 I was interested to find several Mclanan/ia (jalatca on the railway 

 banks. I have always associated this local species more or less with 

 the sea coast. I was pleased to take a few Antlirocera {Zipjaena) loni- 

 cerae, as they lazilj' flew from flower to flower, as I have not hitherto 

 seen this burnet on the wing. A few "plumes" were beaten out of 

 rough herbage, and a large but verj' worn $ Boarniia roboraria was 

 found at rest on a pine trunk. Odezia atra was common, but worn. 

 Geometers, on the whole, were scarce. Although insects have been 

 more abundant this year than usual I notice it has only been amongst 

 the commonest species, at least so far as this district is concerned. 



On August 1st I took my annual holiday, going with my wife and 

 family to Lymington, Hampshire. This place was chosen as I thought 

 it would be a convenient centre both for the Isle of Wight and the 

 New Forest. I am very sorry now we did not stick to our original 

 intention of staying at Brockenhurst, as we did last year. On August 

 2nd Germany declared war on Russia, and after that everything was 

 chaos as far as railway travelling was concerned. Our proposed trips 

 to the Isle of Wight were stopped altogether, and getting about any- 

 where was difficult. There was nothing for it but to make the best of 

 things and to collect when and where we could. 



Lymington itself appeared to be a poor locality for Lepidoptera ; 

 butterflies were scarce in numbers and species, a few " whites," Poli/- 

 ntnmatuti icariis, Celastrina an/iolus, the commonest of the " blues," 

 Ihoiiicia {Chrgfiophanns) plilaeas, Coennnynipha jxoiipjiiliis, Kpinepluie 

 tithontis and Pararqc inei/acra were noticed. Moths were fairlv common 



