1907.1 



Occurrence of XantUa ocellarh, Bkh., in Norfolk. -Uv. R. S. Smith, Jun., of 

 Downham Market, has recently submitted a Noctuid to me for identification. I 

 saw at a glance that it might be Xanthia ocellarU, and a reference to Barrett's 

 " Lepidoptera " convinced me that I was right. This specimen is a ^ , and in very 

 fine condition. Mr. Smith tells me that he captured it in West Norfolk the first 

 week in September of this year ; he also states that he has another specimen, not 

 in such fine condition, which was taken by himself in the same district two years 

 ago. I am aware that this rare species has been taken in Suffolk, but I believe this 

 is the first record of its occurrence in Norfolk ; it will, therefore, be a very welcome 

 addition to our county list.-K. A. Atmork, King's Lynn, Norfolk : November,l906. 



Stenoptiliagraphodactyla, Treilschlce,anew British" P/«me." -While collecting 

 in East Dorset during the past summer I had the good fortune to discover the larvae 

 of this pretty little moth feeding in the flowers of the Marsh Gentian {Gentiana 

 pneumonanthe), and several of the perfect insects were bred. T also beat one or 

 two of them from amongst mixed herbage, but they seem to be sluggish in their 

 habits, and only fly for a short distance after having been disturbed. It occurred 

 in boggy places on heaths, and unless the larvse feed on other plants it is never likely 

 to be very numerous, as the Marsh Gentian appears to be local. This form of gra- 

 phodactyla is near to var. pneumonanthes, Schleich. - Gervase F. MatheW, 

 Dovercourt, Sussex : November 22nd, 1906. 



Nonagria sparganii reared from the ^.^^.-Though other Entomologists have 

 frequently reared this species from larvee, I am not aware that it has been bred in 

 captivity 'through all its stages before. This was done in a glass tank during the 

 past summer. The eggs were laid by bred moths in August, 1905, as described in 

 a previous notice (see Ent. Mo. Mng., vol. xiii, p. 67). The beautifully concealed 

 eggs passed the winter, hatching as before May 10th-12th, 1906, the perfect insect 

 emerging end of August. Though the ^ moth was watched depositing her eggs on 

 the edge of Iris leaves, I regret not being able to satisfy myself exactly how it was 

 accomplished. The eggs were laid after dark, so the moths had to be observed 

 through the glass by the aid of a lamp, and it was not very easy to see how the 

 parent moth managed to gum the margin of the leaf down in this marvellous 

 manner. This is a point which requires further elucidation in the life-history of 

 the insect.— W. R. Jeffrey, Ashford : November nth, 1906. 



Habit of JT^matobia irritans, L.-On July 25th I met some cows coming 

 home from the common called Coe Fen, and I at once noticed that at least one had 

 a band of flies round the base of each horn. Then and also subsequently on 

 August 20th I had difficulty in catching specimens from the horn. But I have no 

 doubt that they were specimens of H. irritans, which were plentiful about the 

 cows. I do not know whether this peculiar habit has been noticed in England ; 

 but Dr. Sharp at once gave me a reference to Riley, Insect Life, II (1889), p. 101. 

 In America, it seems, it is known as the " Horn Fly." I found them again common 

 on September 9th in the cow sheds of a friend, and was told they have often been 

 noticed to form a dense ring on the horns.-F. Jenkinson, Southmead, Chaucer 

 Road, Cambridge : November, 1906. 



