NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 135 



trunks, some hundreds of yards away from a beech wood. Do the 

 larvcC feed on birch also? Insects seem much later this year than last. 

 Mamestra albicolon is not yet out on the sandhills, and sugar, on June 4th, 

 only produced one Agrotis riptz. I have taken a good many Melitcea 

 artemis in a field where they certainly did not occur last year, the question 

 is, where did they spring from? Leucania hirca also occasionally turns 

 up, but it seems hard to get in good condition. Mr. Holland, who has 

 been staying with me, has taken Argyrolepia baumanniana, but 

 unfortunately his first day's catch was all spoilt through carelessness. — 

 R. B. Robertson', Skelty Park, Swansea. 



Sligo. — The season here promises to beat the record. All insects are 

 exceedingly abundant, and "sugar" seems to have quite regained its 

 old attractiveness, absolutely swarming with the commoner NocTUye. 

 The time of appearance also is earlier than usual, for instance Plusia v. 

 aiireuni appeared on June 19th, Apamea ociilea and Nodua xanthographa 

 on June 29th, all these being fully three weeks earlier than usual. 

 Chcerocampa porcellus is again abundant, and I am endeavouring to 

 procure eggs. — P. H. Russ, Sligo. 



Brockenhurst. — Having just had a week's collecting at Brockenhurst 

 with my cousin, Mr. William Ogden, I thought a few notes might be of 

 interest to some of the readers of the RecorL Arriving on May 30th 

 we were fortunate enough to have fine weather the whole time, until 

 the last day, June 6th, which was dull and rainy. Argytmis euphrosyne 

 was one of the commonest butterflies and was in fine condition. Gone- 

 pteryx rhamni was also abundant and occasionally, Euchlo'e cardamines 

 and Thecla ruhi were taken. Hesperia tages and H. malvcc were com- 

 mon everywhere, and at Stubby Copse Nemeobius liicina was by no 

 means scarce, as we managed to take some twenty specimens between 

 us. Beating resulted xwEphyra pundaria^ E. trilineaiia, E. petidularia, 

 Coryda tai/iinata, \Eupisteria heparata, Cidaria stlaceata, Halias prasi- 

 nana, Lithosia aureola^ Ardia mendica (four females only), Platypteryx 

 falcula, P. laceriula, P. hamida and P. imgidcula. On the heath, 

 Bombyx riibi (males) and Phyiontetra (Zftea wi-re plentiful, and an occa- 

 sional Anarta myrtilU, 2 Bo irinia dndaria, and a single Nemoria 

 viridata. Eidorna pdiiaria, Thera obeliscata and Macaria Hhirata were 

 taken among the pines, but only one specimen of the latter. On 

 June 5th we visited Rhinefield, hoping to take Macroglossa fudfornns 

 at the rhododendrons, but found they were not in blossom. However, 

 we succeeded in taking seven specimens at the flowers of the American 

 honeysuckle, all in fine condition. Other captures during the visit 

 were Numeria pulveraria, Ypdpetes ruberata, Euchelia jacobcece, Epione 

 adimiaria and Lobophora hexapterata, and among larvae might be men- 

 tioned Triphceiia fimbria^ Catocala promissa, Liparis monacha, and 

 Ari^ynnis paphia. — Russell E. James, Chesterville, Hornsey Lane, 

 Highgate, N. 



Hkpialus velleda in Bucks. — Whilst mothing at dusk, on June 

 1 8th last, round the outskirts of a fir plantation, near Tring, but just 

 beyond the boundary of the two counties (Herts and Bucks), I found 

 a large number of the common Hepialus iupulinus, hovering over one 

 particular spot in the thick herbage, as though in quest of a female, and 

 among them I could just distinguish in the dusk a moth somewhat 

 larger than the rest ! on making a sweep with the net, among the 



