2W 



[IfoTemBer^ 



Di'liphnvn crenahtm Grav. in Cumberland. — It will be of interest to recorc? 

 the oc-cunvuce of this St.aphylinid beetle in an English county, as hitherto it 

 does not appear to have been noticed south of the Scotch border. "SMiile 

 stripping the loose bark from a felled larch-tree a few days ago I bottled an 

 Omnlium-\\\Q insect which wm not recognised at the time. Wlien set, it was 

 found tt) agree exactly with Scotch examples of D. crenatiim in my collection. 

 The tree in question came from Lazonby in the Eden valley, a district which 

 iiiis yiekUd a good many insects of considerable interest, — E. II. Day, Carlisle ; 

 Ocf,obe^■ 'ii/i, 1921. 



Pbh/r/oTnia c-album and other Lepidaptera in (he Oxford district ; witJi 

 especial reference to supplementary eniergejwes. — Tbe exceptional abundance of 

 the autumnal brood of Polyyonia c-album has been the chief entomological 

 event of the present season here. Hitherto this buttertiy has been decidedly 

 ?are and sporadic in the district, and until this year not rooro than half-a-dozen 

 specimens have come undey my own notice from 1904 onwards. On Jidy 22n(J 

 last I took a worn 5 example nearCothill, Berks, which persistently refused tc 

 »upy)ly me with ovk ; and a Hue specimen wa? seen (and missed) near the same- 

 place on Aiigrjst 19th. Early in September the iasect suddenly became suffi- 

 ciently plentiful to admit of three or fo?ir being seen at one time, sunning 

 themselves with ex])aiided wings on the purple flowers of the Uevil's-bit Scabious^ 

 m which situation few if any of our butterflies present a more effettive appear- 

 ance» Stray examples,, too, were not infrequently seen at the Michaelmas 

 daisies and otlier flowers in tlie Oxford gardens, as well as on the abundant crop 

 of ripe blackberries at Wytham Park and elsewhere. In fact, P. c-album was 

 this season even commoner than Aylais urticne, which here has never fully 

 recovered its former numbers since its almost complete failure in 1918. Com- 

 parati\ely few Pyrameis carclui were observed, but P. ntalunfa was commors 

 and exceedingly fine; a good look-out was kept for Colias echisa, which was 

 fairly plentiful in the district last 3'ear, but I did not see a single specimen. 

 'I'he early brood of llumicia pldaeas wao not a strong one, but on July 22nd the 

 second brood was out in large numbers, and the effects of the dry hot weather 

 Avere very evident in the sufiused ar.d smoky appearance of nearly all (he 

 specimens, accompanied by a very marked tendency to the dark sufl'usion of the 

 costal and hind-margins, and the enlargement of the black spots of the fore- 

 wings. A good many examples with pronounced bronzy or brassy ground- 

 colour were also noted, as well as several of an obscure light ochieous tint. 

 This brood had practically disappeared by the middle of August, and early in 

 September it was succeeded by an even more numerous third generation of 

 richly and clearly coloured specimens, many of them, despite the prevalent 

 drought, exceeding the normal dimensions of the species. Minor variations 

 were frequent, and at least 20 per cent, of the whole were of the ab. coervleo- 

 punctata Tutt ; and on October 1st I took the flnest example of the ab. raiUata 

 Tiitt that has yet come under my notice. The prolonged hot, sunny, and dry 

 summer weather, though it has led to a quite abnormal scarcity of Coleoptera, 

 has been exceptionally I'avourable both to second flowerings of plants and to 

 iiniLsnal appearances of Lepidaptera. A small third brood of Pieris brassicae 

 was first noticed on September 20th, and was last seen on October 13th ; and 

 i*. napi was still on the wing on October 1st. The second brood of Pararge 



