292 THE entomologist's record. 



Record, vol. ii., p. 176. A good deal of my own attention was of course 

 also devoted to the Lepidoptera, but as Mr. Tutt has sufficiently treated 

 of them, I need not add more to his notes. Mr. R. McLachlan joined 

 me on August nth, and we worked together until the 15th, our chief 

 object being if possible to turn up the local Erotesis baltua, of which 

 only some half-dozen specimens have as yet been taken in Britain, and 

 all, except one in the Norfolk Fens, at Wicken Fen. When Mr. 

 McLachlan arrived I had one fine specimen on my setting boards, taken 

 within a day or two of my arrival at Wicken, but unfortunately all our 

 eflbrts fiiiled to turn up another. Perhaps we were too late for the 

 species, but quite as likely the very unfavourable weather we experienced 

 accounted for our non-success. It is a very delicate species, and no 

 doubt its habit, like that of its allied genera, is to fly gently over the 

 ditches at sunset in the calmest weather. As it was, all the time we 

 were there it was either wet, or a much too strong wind was blowing on 

 the Fen, to allow any of this group of insects to fly freely. Even 

 Leptocerus ate}ri>nus\\'2LS only very occasionally seen on the wing, though 

 plenty of specimens could be swept out of the herbage. Next to E. 

 baltica, j^erhaps the most interesting species was Pyrrhosoma tenellum, 

 whicii was found commonly on the ditches on Chippenham Fen on the 

 only visit we made there, on the i3ih. Curiously, it was not seen on 

 Wicken Fen at all, though I had found it there in June the previous 

 year, up to which time it had only occurred in Britain on heaths near 

 We\ bridge, and one or two other similar south of England localities. 

 Its usually common relative, P. minnim, was not seen at all. The 

 district altogether proved very unsatisfactory for Neuroptera and 

 Trichoptera ; indeed the paucity of species in a locality so exceedingly 

 promising in appearance was most extraordinary, and although the 

 weather was certainly much against us, we were reluctantly forced to the 

 conclusion that many of the species we naturally expected in such a 

 locality were not there at all. The few species for which Tuddenham 

 is given were taken on the 14th, the only occasion of our visit there. 

 When the locality is not stated, the record refers in all cases to Wicken. 



Neuroptera. — Sympdrum striolatum ; S. saiiguineiim, not uncom- 

 mon, but not nearly so abundant as I found it on Wicken Fen in 

 August two years ago ; .Eschna grandis, common, and often seen 

 "hawking" for insects at dusk, a habit, I believe, not indulged in by 

 any other dragon-fly. Several specimens of another ^schiia (probably 

 cyanea) were seen, but not captured. Lesies sponsa, common on both 

 ^\'icken and Chippenham Fens ; Ischmira elegans, common ; Agrion 

 pulcheUum, common on both Wicken and Chippenham Fens ; one or 

 two others of the common Agrions, I think, also occurred, but as none 

 were set, cannot say with certainty which they were ; Pyrrhosoma 

 ienelhim, common on Chippenham Fen. Ncmoura (species ?), one 

 species common at Chipi)enham, but I am a little doubtful as to which 

 it is ; Raphidia xanthostigma, Chip|)enham Fen ; Heinerobiiis inargi- 

 natus, and one or two other commoner species of the genus occurred at 

 Chippenham ; Clirysopa flava, C. vittata, C. alba, C. ienella and C. 

 aspersa, all at Chippenham ; C. flavifrons, not uncommon at Wicken. 



Trichoptera. — Pliryganea zw/'/a, abundant and variable; Ag/ypnia 

 pagetana, common; Colpofaulius ina'sus, common; Grammitaulius 

 nitidus, not uncommon on Wicken Fen ; Glyphotalius pellucidus ; 



