NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 68 



I took Notodonta ziczac on April 23rd, and have already (May 1st) 

 seen several D. vinula — T. Baxter, St. Anne's-on-Sea, Preston. 



You will perhaps be interested to know that I took Eubolia lineolata 

 (virgata) from the Cheshire sandhills on the 12th inst., which is very 

 early. — T, Tunstall, Warrington. April 22nd, 1890. 



Having found ffybernia p}'ogeininaria ahMndd.ni here at the end of Jan- 

 uary and during February, I was surprised at taking a male at Dawlish 

 on the 17th inst. On the 4th I saw two specimens of l^ararge ei:;eria. — 

 R. M. Pkideaux, 9, Vyvyan Terrace, Clifton, Bristol. April 23^^, 

 i8go. 



Biston liirtaria has been unusually abundant in London this month. 

 One afternoon, in three-quarters of an hour, I took fifty-four in the heart 

 of the City, and a friend who was with me took nearly as many. They 

 were all quite recently emerged. — C. Fenn, Eversden House, Burnt 

 Ash Hill, Lee, S.E. April 261/1, 1890. 



Tceniocainpa gothica has been the only species of the group even 

 tolerably abundant here this spring ; we have had a long succession of 

 cold nights, with unusually severe frosts on several occasions, and with 

 the exception of three or four evenings the wind has been north-east 

 for the last month. Imagines have been seldom seen on the wing, but 

 hybernating larvae have been particularly numerous, especially on prim- 

 rose and arum. — J. Mason. 



Tephrosia crepuscularia has been rather plentiful this month (April), 

 and a few good varieties have been taken, one of which is even more 

 distinctly marked than the specimen^ just returned in the Exhibition 

 box. These vars. I only find in one locality, and, strange to say, are 

 all females. I have never seen any specimens of the second brood vary 

 either in colour or markings, as in the first brood ; almost all are light 

 coloured, the markings indistinct, the specimens much smaller and less 

 plentiful. The locality where I take the species is situated on very 

 high ground, facing north ; the plantation is a mixed one, larch and 

 Scotch fir predominating, with a sprinkling of oak ; the undergrowth is 

 chiefly elder and hazel ; the soil is a sandy loam, overlying the Pennant 

 limestone. In confinement I find the larvte feed freely on sloe and 

 plum. — J. Mason. 



I bred a batch of P. tersata the last week in March. The larvae were 

 fed up last autumn ; one of the females has produced a few ova, which 

 I hope will prove fertile, as it appears to me possible to rear three 

 broods in the twelve months. I may mention that the pupas have in 

 no way been forced, the breeding case having been out of doors since 

 February. — J. Mason, Clevedon Court Lodge, Somerset. 



I saw a specimen of Melitcea cifixia to-day, but several larvce were 

 still feeding on the cliffs. Some of my larvai pupated a week ago. 

 Theda rubi seems to be unusually abundant here this spring. — W, A. 

 Luff, Guernsey. May iTth, 1890. 



I have spent three afternoons on our moors in obtaining mines of 

 Lithocolletis vacciniella and Nepticida tveaveri. The latter species re- 

 quires a lot of finding. The Nepticula mines the upper side of the leaves, 

 the Lithocolletis the underside. — J. Batty, Sheffield. M^ay 27///, 1890. 



Owing to,the easterly wind my captures up to date have been very few. 



1 This was a Ijeautiful variety, with the outer area of the fore wings dark ochreous 

 brown, but with very distinct lines. — Ed, 



