226 [September, 



Note on the pairi»(j of Lampijrh uoctilnca, L. — While golfing at Crookham, 

 lu^ar Newbury, Berks, early in July, 1901, I took several males of this connnon 

 beetle, attracted by indoor light. On the 5th five or six dew in, the first at 10.45, 

 the last at 11.30 p.m. ; the night was still, warm and windless. On the 6th one 

 flew in during broad daylight at (3.30 ; none came later, tlie night being cool and 

 windy. On the 7th, a fairly warm night with a slight breeze, two came in at 10 p.m. 

 They flew noiselessly and generally settled on the table below the lamp, though 

 occasionally on the walls, and one, apparently catching the light from above, gyrated 

 around the ceiling, upon which it ultimately attempted in vain to gain a foothold, 

 in circles wider, swifteV and less erratic than those usually described by Noctuce. 

 These males are often attracted to sugarers' lamps in woods, but are, I believe, rarely 

 taken by any other method. 



Knowing nothing of the method of pairing, I went out at 10.50 p.m., and at 

 once discovered a female in an adjacent flower bed. The lower surface of its abdo- 

 men had the apical segment dully, and the next two, as well as a small spot in the 

 centre of the base of the following one, brightly pea-green phosphorescent ; there 

 was no glimmer above. The males had one or two small apical dots of phospho- 

 rescence. The sexes were introduced at 10.55, when the male, attracted by the 

 bright light, instantly attacked, and the female, fully extending its segments, dis- 

 closed bright phosphorescence at the base of the apical dorsal segment. Pairing 

 was attained at the end of three minutes, during which the female lights were ex- 

 tended to their fullest power and then entirely faded out. During pairing the female 

 showed no light whatever, but lateral spots of phosphorescence appeai'cd on the male 

 apical segment upon being disturbed ; the male head reaches to the anterior margin 

 of the 2nd, or sometimes only to that of the 3rd, abdominal segment of the female, 

 the former's elytra protruding far beyond the female, and its abdomen being much 

 deflexed ; all male and female energy is entirely intersusceptive, and they will lie 

 upon their backs motionless with legs wide stretched if overturned. Pairing ended 

 at 11.13, having lasted fifteen minutes. 



At 11.15 a second male was presented to the female, and obtained pairing in- 

 stantly, though less eager in its attack than the first, probably on account of the 

 absence of phosphorescence on the latter's part. After seven minutes the female 

 became restive, but was pacified by its head being protected from the artificial light. 

 At 11.36 pairing ended, the male being so much exhausted that only at the end of 

 four minutes did it attempt to walk laggingly. 



At 11.42 the first male again attained pairing, though without zeal, and 

 remained in that position till 12.2, when it ended, though the male remained 

 clinging to the female, in which pose they both remained till 9 the following 

 morning, when the second male was dead, though all the other males taken were 

 still lively. The first male, after the above two pairings, died no sooner than the 

 rest of those taken at the same time, i. e., about 48 hours after capture. The female 

 unfortunately died on the 1 1th, probably from unnatural surroundings in the unusual 

 heat, without ovipositing, nor could I find traces of eggs within the abdomen. - 

 Claude Moeley, Ipswich : July, 1901. 



Vanessa Antiopa in Shetland. — This afternoon, about 1.30, when collecting on 



