NOTES ON THE SEASON 1910. 



65 



have evet' had, occurred during my next short trip, in the woods near 

 Huntingdon and in the fens round Peterborough. On the nights of July 

 2nd, 3id, 4th, and 5th, Messrs. Galpin and Rippon, of Oxford, and 

 myself, treacled in the woods, and after the first night moths were 

 literally crowding each other off the patches. Trii>h(icna proiuiba was 

 probably responsible for hustling off' many of the shyer species. There 

 must have been many thousands of them, as on one tree alone, I 

 counted, for curiosity, no less than 74 of this species. However, in 

 spite of their hustling, we each got a fine series of Dicijcla oo with a 

 good large proportion of var. rcncKjd. Aplecta advena was common, but 

 getting worn, and A. piaaina was almost over. Tliijatira (lercn^a was 

 very abundant, but curiously only a single T. batis turned up. Neiina 

 fiapoimriai' was common but worn. A.vi/lia [lutris, Apaiitea (jeiiiina, and 

 Xijlnphaxia hepatica were in plenty, and X. sKblttstn's, Pharctra rumicis,. 

 Triiihaena fimbria and Ai/nitin obaruia (raciila) occurred from time to 

 time. A. corticea was common on the outskirts of the wood, where 

 Messrs. Rippon and Galpin were working, and they took some fine 

 dark forms of this species, but on the other hand, working farther 

 inside, I had the best success with Z>. oo. 



On the 4th, while the others remained in the woods, I visited the 

 fens with a friend from Peterborough. The spot we chose for this 

 one night is very ungetatable, happily — far from the railway and 

 apparently quite unworked. In richness, however, this one night 

 proves that it rivals Wicken. We treacled posts, flowers, alder and 

 sallow twigs, reed stems and knots, and all simply swarmed with 

 moths. Si'uta idvae was getting over, but half-a-dozen excellent 

 specimens w^ere picked out, and it had evidently been abundant. Other 

 species taken at treacle were Tapinostola coiirolor, Acronycta lepoiinay 

 Ilaclcna adiista, [.encania iiiipiitlens (swarms), Apaiiita iinaniiiiis, Orthosia 

 siisjit'cta, Aplecta adrena, Leucania obsoleta, Agrotii< obscura {yarida),2\)A'o- 

 pcihtpn ))ai<tinuiii, and many other common ones — a goodly list for one 

 night, and hard to beat anywhere. The short time we had at dusk showed 

 T. pastinmii in great numbers, and among Geometers Acidalia eniargi- 

 nata and Kiitineh'sia alcheniillata were noticed. We found other insects 

 to be hungry, besides Xoctuae, and in spite of " Terrifly," we w^ere 

 most unsightly objects next day from the effects of fly bites. Alto- 

 gether, with fen and wood, the four nights turned up seventy species 

 of Xoctiiae alone. 



The weather was almost sunless, but by day a few Strijinon jnuni 

 were seen in the woods. They were distinctly scarce, however, and, 

 I should think, could do with a rest. The blackthorns still showed 

 signs of having been heavily beaten earlier in the year, and I should 

 imagine the species is being somewhat overworked. Ihijas, paphia, 

 Artp/inus adippe, Melancuijia i/alatJtea, and iJiacrisia sani<> [I'Uitluniionia 

 ruasula) were also occasionally seen, and one meadow near Peterborough 

 was simply swarming with Anthrocera fdipcndnlac and A. trifoUi, both 

 in pupal and imaginal states. 



FoUowmg on this trip, a fortnight spent at Hemsby on the 

 Norfolk Coast (July 8th-25th), was more remarkable for quantity than 

 quality. The numbers night after night nearly, but not quite, 

 equalled those of the Huntingdon Woods. The round consisted of 

 posts and flowers on the sandhills, and trees in a small apple orchard. 

 Again Tn'pliaoia prmudni had first place and the most interesting 



