NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 161 



have, amongst other captures, taken about 40 Heliaca arbuti, and to- 

 day have had given to me a ? Dciopeia ptilchella. It was taken in 

 this neighbourhood in an allotment garden, and after its capture was 

 shut into a match-box, and fed on grass, where it unfortunately rubbed 

 one of its wings slightly, otherwise it is in good condition. During the 

 past fortnight numbers of Colias edusa have been on flight, apparently 

 hybernated specimens, as their wings generally are more or less torn 

 and their colours have faded. Cynthia cardui and Vanessa afalafita 

 are more plentiful than I have seen them for some years. — A. Forsyth. 

 June 6i/i, 1892. 



Netu Forest, Epping, Abbot's Wood, C king ford, etc. — A week at 

 Whitsuntide at the New Forest produced Nenieobius liicina, Stauropus 

 fagi (2), Notodonta dodoncca (i at sugar), Boarmia consortaria, Diphthera 

 orion (10), and a full-fed larva of Apatura iris, which is now in pupa. 

 The evening of June 10th was grand for sugar, hot, hazy and dull. 

 Besides a large number of ordinary Nocxu^, I took 8 of the D. orion 

 on that evening. They usually come to sugar at dusk (9 — 9.20 p.m.), 

 and settle, with \vings closed, at the top of the patch, looking remark- 

 ably like the green lichen which covers the trees. Fortunately they 

 are not shy, and have to be scraped into the box, so fond are they of 

 the sugar. 



I was a little too late for 6". fagi at Epping. I had one day there 

 and took no imagines, but found 56 ova on a beech trunk. These were 

 scattered, from about 6 inches from the ground, up to 8 ft., on all sides 

 of the tree, singly or in small groups. They are now changing colour. 

 If this is the usual way in which S. fagi oviposits, it would be a good 

 way to collect the species, as the newly deposited ova are very con- 

 spicuous on the green trunks. 



A visit to Abbot's Wood, Polegate on June 25th, was chiefly planned 

 for Melita:a athalia. The dull day almost prevented them from flying, 

 but I took 10, also B. consortaria, Ennychia octoniacidalis, etc. 



Sugar is splendid round here. Last week I boxed over 100 insects 

 in i| hour, and set out 96 of them. This was at "Lark's Wood" 

 near Chingford. 



Phorodcsma smaragdaria is a great lover of the sun, and basks on al 

 the sheltered plants. Mine are doing well. I have already bred about 

 20 all full size. This seems to disprove the theory that the southern- 

 wood fed specimens are dwarfed, for my larvre had both southernwood 

 and sea wormwood, and preferred the former. I believe it to be a 

 question of plenty of food, sun, air and space. — A. U. Battley. June, 

 1892. 



Aberdeen. — The season here promises to be a very good one. The 

 sallows in the spring were unusually productive ; Tceniocampa stabilis, 

 T. in stabilis, T. got Idea, and Pachnobia rubricosa swarmed on them 

 almost every night. Panolis piniperda and Hadena glauca were rather 

 scarce. I was surprised to find a male T. stabilis and female T. gothica 

 in cop. drop into my, sheet. I have bred a nice lot of Spilosoma 

 viendica from larvae obtained near Aberdeen last autumn, the males are 

 not quite so dark as the English form, hitherto this insect was supposed 

 to be very rare in this district. The best of my other captures is a 

 fine series of ochreous forms of Diantha'cia conspersa. Hadena adusta 

 is abundant at sugar, and Maniestra albicolon has been taken in fair 



