NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 279 



by Lieut. Brown, whilst the less common Agrotidce appear to have been 

 as abundant as usual in their respective haunts, Agrotis ravida in some 

 numbers, and A. candelarum var. asJnvorthii being perhaps the best of 

 them. Triphcena subsequa has occurred but sparingly ; the differen- 

 tiation of Noctua /estiva and N. confliia has been worked out ; and 

 N. stlgmatica has occurred in some numbers in the central part of the 

 Thames Valley. Dasycampa riibiginea has turned up in several localities, 

 and our Reading friends have supplied us with quite a nice lot of 

 Xanthia aurago and its vars., whilst Cosmia pyralifia has been more 

 than usually common ; Diajithceda irregularis larvae were very abundant, 

 at Tuddenham, the suggestion that Dianthcecia capsophila is a var, of 

 D. carpophaga has been again mooted, D. ccesia has also occurred 

 rather freely, and Dianthcecia liiteago var. barrettii has been well to the 

 fore. Polia nigrocincia has appeared in its usual haunts, and Hadena 

 satura has again turned up in '' Fenland." H. atriplicis, confined 

 almost entirely to Upware in Britain, has occurred, and Cucullia 

 scrophularice bred, although its identity with C. lycJinitis has been 

 suggested. Plusia orichalcea still occurs in its old abundance in the 

 " Fens," and Capt. Robertson must get the aid of one of the fen-workers 

 to prove how common it is at Swansea. Plusia inoneta is again 

 recorded a few times, showing its continued existence here. Stilbia 

 anomala has been here and there abundant, and the " Crimsons " have 

 again appeared in the New Forest. I cannot leave the Noctua without 

 referring to the specimen of Prodenia littoralis, bred by Mr. Boden 

 from a tomato. The species is found in " Crete, Syria, Canary 

 Isles, etc," 



Of the Geometers there is less to note. The usual Highland species 

 have occurred. Phorodesma smaragdaria seems to increase in numbers 

 the more the larvae are worked, and, whilst we have to bewail the total 

 destruction of the locality for Acidalta ochrata, our We>sh collectors 

 liave taken A. contiguaria, and our I^ewes friends keep up the supply 

 of A. immorata. Eupithecia extensaria has been interbred sufficiently 

 to make it cease to be rare, — £,. pygi/iceata, E. consignata and E. 

 dodoneata are all much more wanted species of the genus. Our York 

 friends gave us E. albipunctata var. angelicata this year, for which we were 

 very thankful. Mr. Farren has bred a beautiful lot of Anticlea sinuata ; 

 Phibalapteryx lapidata has been taken sparingly at Rannoch, whilst 

 Cidaria reticulata has occurred again as usual. No rare Deltoides or 

 Pyrales are recorded except Botys lupulinalis (from Hartlepool) ; 

 perhaps, the two Hypenides are the next best. Our two leading 

 Hereford lepidopterists have bred Phycis hostilis again, Melia ajiellus 

 occurred very sparingly at Deal, whilst the taking of Dioryctria, 

 splendiddla by Mr. C. G. Barrett at Southwold, by Mr. Jones at 

 Wallasey and Mr. Gardner at Hartlepool, shows the peculiar localities 

 of this species. Crambus inyellus appears to occur regularly now in 

 Perthshire, whilst C. dumetellus is common in Aberdeenshire. Of the 

 ToRTRiCES and Tineina we have several records, of which the most 

 important are to be found in our " Current Notes " from month to 

 month. Perhaps one of the strangest of these records is that of 

 Dr. Chapman, who discovered that the larva of Micropteryx calthella 

 is provided with antenni^. Besides the records of Dr. Chapman ; 

 Dr. Wood, Messrs. C. G. Barrett, Elisha, Bankes, N. M. Richardson, 



