NOTES ON COLLECTING. 88 



of young larvae of Grapholitha nisana, and, of course, no end of eggs 

 and young larvte of I'itn'a riavai/o and (J. fulvaijo (Gregson). 



24. — -Fill a bag with catkins and terminal shoots of Almi^ 

 yiutitwsa, in and on which larvM' of (irapholitha penkleriana are feeding 

 (Gregson). 



25. — Under the tufts of Tortulae and Hypnums, which grow so 

 freely round Llanferras, I obtained young larva; of Scoparia nmralu, 

 S. crataegalis, and S. inerciirialis ; also a few Noctuid larv«> that were 

 hiding there (Gregson). 



26. — The eggs of Ennomus aiii/ulan'a commence to hatch in early 

 April, not all at once, but in small numbers over a long period. The 

 larvae feed well on oak and birch, preferring the latter, and when full-fed 

 spin a slight cocoon between the leaves of their food-plant (Lockyer). 



27. — In collecting young larva? from sallow in early spring it will 

 be found, upon examination, that the young leaf-shoots at the tops of 

 the twigs almost invariably contain a larva. In this way I have bred 

 Tethea retiisa, Kunjniene dolabraria, and other species which will possibly 

 not be gathered with the catkins alone (DoUman). 



28. — -At the end of March, we adopted the plan of cutting branches 

 of the best sallow bloom from the inaccessible parts of Bishop's Wood, 

 and hung them up on the branches of trees in rides ; on each of these 

 the moths swarmed and we had an umbrella literally covered with 

 Tseniocampids after each shake (Walker). 



29. — A large American cheese box with the top knocked out, 

 leaving a ring by means of which a piece of leno can be stretched over 

 the bottom of the box makes a very good breeding-cage (Bate). 



:i^OTES ON COLLECTING, Etc. 



Aquatic rhynchota and Coleoptera at Bolton in January. — On 

 January 1st, the weather being very mild, I went in search of water-bugs 

 and met with some success. I have been twice since, on the 11th and 

 17th, and the total number of species taken on the three days is ten, as 

 follows : Notonecta glauca, three ; Conixa geojf'royi, one on the 1st ; C. 

 lugubris, very common ; C. hiernglyphica, one on the 11th ; (J. linnaeiy 

 not common ; C. striata, fairly plentiful ; C. moesta, one on the 11th ; 

 C. fabricii, and fossarum, very common ; and (.'. praeusta and var. 

 wollaatoni, fairly plentiful. Along with these I have taken seven 

 specimens of Dythcus marginalia (three <y s and four 5 s), one <? 

 Acilius sulcatus, Haliplus variegatun, Hydroportis geminus and palustris, 

 and Lacophilus minutiif!. — Oscvr Whittaker, Morelands, Heaton, 

 Bolton-le-Moors. February 5th, 1902. 



Lepidopterological notes in 1901. — Sphinx convohuli : What 

 an erratic insect this is ! On August 18th and 23rd I took several 

 specimens, hut all worn. On September 8th and 9th I took several 

 more quite fresh, while on September 7th I had a nearly full-fed larva 

 brought me. Are there two broods, or only a series of very pro- 

 tracted emergences ? Euintheria sobrinata : This insect began to 

 emerge with me on July 8th, and continued coming out till Septem- 

 ber 3rd, a period of over eight weeks. Dianthoecia irregularis : This 

 insect was emerging from July 4th till August 5th. Pkiyalia 

 pfdaria : A male which emerged on March 2nd, and which I did 

 not kill, but used for breeding, lived without food of any sort until 

 March 31st, just 29 days. — Percy C. Reid, F.E.S., Peering Bury, 

 Kelvedon. F'ebruari^ IHth, 1902. 



