NOTES FROM A I.EPIDOPTERIST's DIARY FOR 1908. 31 



Viburnuiii for mines of A^^ijeria andreniformis, but, although I got 

 plenty of bored stems, only two imagines rewarded my labours. 



On May 6th, a run to Chattenden drew a blank, the weather being 

 cold and showery, but a night or so later, on the outside of the wood, I 

 found a fairish number of Noctuid larvfe, mostly Noctiia .i-antho(iraplia, 

 Leucania pallens, L. iinpura, Triphaena orbona, T. pronnba, T. fimbria, 

 Xoctiia baja, and N. trianijuhnn, which were uncommon, whilst a few 

 each of Xaenia tj/pica and Roannia repandata brought us home fairly 

 satisfied with our work. A few days after, I visited the Medway 

 marshes for larv« of Adactylus bennettii and Platyptilia gonodactyla, 

 the latter being fairly common, but the former was, as yet, scarcely 

 showing. A visit to the woods between Maidstone and Chatham, on 

 May 11th, brought to light another locality for Helliusia carphodactyla. 

 On May 13th Saturnia pavonia {carpini) crawled up in the breeding- 

 cage, and a ? Xylocampa lithoriza, from which I obtained a small 

 number of ova, was found on a fence. On May 19th, Xula cristnlalis 

 was out in the woods near Chatham. From imagines taken at this 

 time Sergeant Crocker obtained ova, and, in due course, larvie, an 

 account of some of the latter being given in the Entomologist's Record 

 for September last (vol. xx., pp. 213-214). As to the making of the 

 cocoon of Xola cristulalis, Mr. Crocker pointed out to me in his garden 

 that the larvte peeled pieces of the thin bark off the twigs and branches 

 near the cocoons, carried them to the cocoon, and filled them into the 

 walls ; but one thing is not at all clear, viz., that, at each end of the 

 cocoon there are two marks of greyish-white silk. What are they for? 

 They show very distinctly, but whether spun as a foundation to work 

 from or whether like bolt ropes to draw the cocoon tight as they dried, 

 we could not settle to our satisfaction. 



Several unsuccessful visits to Chattenden — of Apatura iris and 

 Xola albulalis fame — brought home the fact that, as an entomologist's 

 paradise, these woods are a thing of the past; the extensive rearing of 

 game, which are penned out in all the clearings, give no chance for 

 the survival of lepidoptera in any stage. Two or three specimens 

 each of Hesperia vialvae [alveolus), Cabera exanthemaria, Teplirosia bis- 

 tortata (crepMscidaria), and iarva3 of Chattendenia ir-album, Enodia 

 Jiijperantlms, JEgeria cynipiformis, and lUiodopJiaea consociella being the 

 sum of our catch. 



On May 25th, a visit to the woods around Chatham resulted in my 

 first acquaintance with Minoa mnrinata alive, when I captured a nice 

 series of nine gems, just out. Botys fuscalis, Eitpitliecia plnmbeo- 

 lata, and Venilia niaculata, were fairly common ; odd specimens of 

 Macaria notata, Hylophila prasinana, and Lyydia adustata were also 

 taken, whilst a plentiful supply of larvte of Lasiocawpa (jitercus, Por- 

 t/iesia aurifiua, Diloba caeruleocephala, Abraxas yrossulariata, and a J 

 of Dasyclnra pudibnnda on a tree-trunk brought an end to a most 

 enjoyable outing. I might just mention one item not entomological, 

 viz., that while pushing a way through the undergrowth I was startled 

 by the flight of a largish bird, as it were, from under my feet ; it did 

 not fly right away, but kept hovering round, and, after a short flight, 

 came near enough for me to recognise it as a "nightjar"; its move- 

 ments made me suspect that its nest was near, and, glancing around, 

 I saw almost at my feet two eggs placed in a very slight depression in 

 the ground, and loooking exactly like the stones and pebbles with 



