NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 295 



of the system followed. — J. Mason, Clevedon Court Lodge, Somerset. 

 September 30//^, 1891. 



Sphinx convolvuli in Wales. — A very large female S. convolvuli 

 was given me on September 2nd. It was caught the day before by a 

 brother, at rest in a hall of a house a few hundred yards from the sea. 

 It either came to light or to a lily which was inside the hall. It 

 measures \\ inches and is bigger by nearly half inch than either of 

 the two specimens I had previously. Is it abnormally large? — R. 

 B. Robertson, Sketty Park, Swansea. September 25//?, 1891. 



Sphinx convolvuli in Kent. — Next season I intend to plant a few 

 plants of Nicotiana affinis, to attract Sphinx convolvuli, as they seem to be 

 about here. Within the last four seasons, I have had three dilapidated 

 specimens brought me, and this year I had one brought from Keston, 

 on August 17th; but as the captor of it had it in a flower-pot all the 

 week, it was quite shorn of its beauty, more like a Whitechapel than a 

 West-ender. On September 27th, I had a splendid specimen brought 

 by the road surveyor here, who found it crawling about on the middle 

 of the road at Green St. Green, not the least damaged. He carried it 

 in a paper bag. I have been told of different captures of it in this 

 neighbourhood from time to time. — Hope x\lderson, Farnboro', Kent. 

 October %th, 1891. 



Foodplant of Chcerocaimpa porcellus. — In reply to the Editor's 

 query, re the foodplant of C. porcellus, I beg to state that the larva was 

 not feeding on the purple loose strife {Lythrum salicaria), but was found 

 amongst the grass at a short distance from the plant, on which I 

 presumed it had been feeding, as this is mentioned as one of its food- 

 plants by the Rev. Seymour St. John. I must not, however, omit to say 

 that in another part of the field there was some Lady's Bedstraw from 

 which it is possible the larva may have wandered. — D. H. S. Steuart, 

 North Leigh, Prestwich, Lancashire. October ^th, 189 1. 



Acherontia atropos in the Isle of Man. — On Saturday afternoon 

 last, Mr. John Moughton from Laxey, sent to me a beautiful specimen 

 of this insect, which had been captured by him in Laxey Glen on 

 Thursday evening last, October 22nd. The insect is in splendid 

 condition, and probably had not long emerged from the chrysalis before 

 it was caught. These moths are very uncertain in the time and place 

 of appearance in the Isle of Man. — H. Shortridge Clarke, 2, 

 Osborne Terrace, Douglas, Isle of Man. October 26th, 1891. 



Difficulty of setting the forelegs of Agriopis aprilina. — I 

 remember reading (in the Entomologist) a short time ago about the 

 difficulty of setting out the forelegs of Agriopis aprilina. I, however, 

 set them out on the last I captured, but with some trouble. They 

 seem gripped like a vice and as if fitted into a notch. It may be the 

 joint stiffens, that I am unable to say. However, they can be separated 

 by inserting a fine point between the thickest part and pulling at 

 the same time with a pair of fine forceps. — Hope Alderson. October 

 ^th, 1891. 



Stauropus fagi and Cuspidia alni in the New Forest. — I beat 

 a fine full-fed larva of the first mentioned species on beech in the New 

 Forest, last September. Those of the latter species were comparatively 

 common this year, though several were ichneumoned. — C. Edward 

 Crane, Emery-Down, Arundel Road, Eastbourne. 



