204 the entomologist's record. 



Lepidopterological notes from Freshwater. 



By RUSSELL E. JAMES. 



Since Mr. Hodges discontinued his interesting notes on the Isle of 

 Wight, one has heard little of Freshwater, and some notes on a three 

 weeks' visit may be of interest. With his usual generosity, Mr. 

 Hodges posted me well up beforehand, so that I started for Totland 

 Bay on July 12th, with every prospect of a good time. The fine 

 weather began simultaneously, and I just found the good local species 

 coming out with a rush. Totland Bay is a little farther than Fresh- 

 water from the best grounds, but is far pleasanter to stay at, especially 

 when one has small children, who reckon on a sandy beach. 

 Immediately upon arrival, I quite unexpectedly met Mr. W. J. Kaye, 

 who was bent on taking a quiet holiday before starting on an entomo- 

 logical trip to Trinidad. 



The display of a fine lot of Acidalia humiliate and Setina irrorella, 

 however, which I took before breakfast on my first morning, roused 

 his enthusiasm for British field work again, and the holiday hence- 

 forward proved less " quiet " than he had anticipated. A. humiliata 

 daily increased in numbers in its special locality until July 20th, 

 when it began to get worn, and by the end of the month was over. 

 My last visit on August 2nd only showed two very worn females. It 

 is excessively local, but I should imagine it has gained ground since 

 Mr. Hodges first discovered it. Moreover, as only a few yards of its 

 special spot are workable, it should be quite safe from over-collecting. 

 As a matter of fact Mr. Kaye thought none of it looked workable, and 

 declined to accompany me. He took a few, however, by the much 

 more laborious means of working in a boat from below. 



The other great Freshwater insect, Agrotis luni<jera, also at leas; 

 maintains its numbers. This species was only just starting, too, and 

 the first night (July 13th) produced eleven specimens. The following 

 night 44 turned up, and then I did not treacle the Downs again until 

 the 20th. On this night, had I cared, I could easily have taken 500, 

 or even more. I had 70 bunches of treacled hemlock, and every one 

 had three or four on, several running into double figures, and when I 

 left, with every box full, at 11.30 p.m., they were still coming on thick. 

 All these flowers were placed within six feet of the cliff edge, and a 

 fence running back inland, which I treacled the same night, did not 

 produce a single specimen, although other species were common 

 enough. In the matter of flowers, I found white ones were much 

 more remunerative than other colours. On the last night, nearly 

 running short of my supply of hemlock, I used yarrow, ragwort, 

 and hemp-agrimony as well. The yarrow proved almost as attractive 

 as the hemlock, but on the ragwort and agrimony, there was scarcely 

 a quarter as many moths as on the others. This was the more 

 remarkable, as, being an excessively cold and windy night, the thicker 

 ragwort and agrimony foliage offered much more shelter to the feeding 

 moths than either of the others. These cliff species stand a lot of 

 " weather." On this last night (July 31st) the hemlock stems were 

 snapped again and again, getting shorter and shorter as they were 

 cut and stuck up afresh ; and the temperature was so low, that at 

 11.30 p.m. I could scarcely box the moths for cold hands. Yet I 

 selected 60 fine A. lunigera, and left many others, whilst Xylophasia 



