3i4 THE entomologist's record. 



Jg^OTES ON COLLECTING, Etc. 



Lepidoptera at York. — The most remarkable feature of the present 

 season seems to have been the extraordinarily late time of appearance of 

 a great number of summer species, June and July insects having been 

 on the wing in numbers as late as August and September. Epinephcle 

 ianira was flying along the hedgerows at the beginning of this week, 

 so, too, was Forthema sum'lii^ {avriflna). 1 found a larva of the latter 

 species a fortnight ago liuilding its cocoon on the bark of a tree. 

 Acronicta leporina was on the sugar on August 28th, whilst a $ 

 Cymatopltom diijdaris was even later, September 5th. Sugar proved 

 attractive for a few nights only in July. On the 5th, at Askham Bog, 

 X>/l(ipliasia hepatira , X.s}ihlii!itns,Thi/atira bath, Hadena dismiiili>i[suasa), 

 H. dinitinu, Fliisia festucae, and Lcucania impudena {pitdorino) were in 

 fair numbers, whilst Noctita festiva and (iramviesia tri<ira)niinca ap- 

 peared in greater numbers. Sugared thistle-heads seemed especially 

 attractive to Nortva mbi, which swarmed. The 19th was another good 

 collecting night, sugar accounting for many of the species above, but 

 was particularly notable for large numbers of Noctua oiKjnr and N. 

 f estiva, which almost monopolised the sugar patches, one yellow 

 aberration of N. rnbi, 3 , was boxed, but it was badly chipped and of 

 no cabinet value. Is luijiistciia hcjiarata a double- brooded species in 

 the south of England ? At Bishop Wood, near York, I find it usually 

 at the end of May and early June, but, during a visit to West Malvern, 

 I took a female in excellent condition on August 1st, which would be 

 surprisingly late, even for a Yorkshire specimen, to be on the wing. 

 Perhaps it is double-brooded in Worcestershire. — S. Walker, York. 

 September 15th, 1902. 



Lepidoptera in Essex. — Here, as elsewhere, owing to the long 

 continued spell of cold wet weather the season has been a poor one, 

 nothing, or next to nothing, at sugar. Endotriclia jlamnwalU has, I 

 think, been the commonest moth of the year. I'orthesia chrj/sorrhoea 

 is now so firmly established here that it beat /'. sviiilh [aurijlua) in 

 point of numbers. I have just heard that several larva? of the rare 

 knothorn, NcjJm/itcri/x rhenclla, have been taken within the last day or 

 so near here. 1 bred the species two years ago from poplar, obtained 

 at Eastwood, but I think I must have brought the larvje in with 

 the foodplaut, as I can remember nothing about them. — F. G. 

 Whittle, 8, Marine Avenue, Southend. September 24.th, 1902. 



Lepidoptera in the Skipwith and Brighton districts. — The 

 season has kept up its character here all through, with the exception 

 of three weeks from the middle of July, when I was away from home, 

 and about which I cannot speak from experience. There was a sharp frost 

 on July 24th, which killed the young bracken and a good deal of the 

 Fried on the common, and also, I fancy, killed the wasps and flies, for 

 I have not seen a single worker wasp this year, and flies have been 

 (juite scarce ; generally they are almost unbearable. Sugar, 1 have 

 not tried very often, but, when it has been put on, the result has been 

 practically nil. Light has been much less productive than usual, the 

 number of species being fewer, and no species except Liiperina testacea 

 at all plentiful. Everything has been irregular as to date. Acidalia 

 Ktrayniiutta, which is generally out from the last week in June till about 

 July 10th, had not put in an appearance at all by July 11th, though I 



