NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 229 



The life-history of cJusa was well worked out in 1877 by Mr. Fitch 

 {Entom., xi., p. 58) : — Female captured June 6th, eggs were laid June 

 8th, these hatched June 14th, larvce pupated July 7th-9th, imagines 

 emerged July 2rst-August 15th. A large brood being reared, consisting 

 of 49 males and 57 females. These bred specimens paired, eggs were 

 laid July 29th, larvce hatched August 7th, pupa September 24th. No 

 butteifly was bred, and only one pupa was obtained, owing, as Mr. 

 Fitch said, to " heavy rains injuring them in the breeding cages " and 

 his own neglect. But living imagines freshly emerged were again at 

 large throughout October, and other entomologists reared the brood 

 through. This year the Rev. Mr. Hewett, Mr. Hawes and others, have 

 succeeded in getting through the first brood, and numbers of larvae and 

 pupas belonging to the second brood have been exhibited by various 

 collectors at the entomological meetings during the last fortnight, so 

 that this second brood must be now very near emergence. On the Con- 

 tinent, the species, I believe, without exception, hybernates as an imago, 

 but in England the query propounded by Mr. Fitch still remains to be 

 answered by observers this winter. He writes : — " Does it pass the 

 winter as an eg^.? as a larva {Ent. Mo. Mag., vi., p. 232)? as a pupa 

 {Id. V. 77)? or as an imago {Ent. Inielligejiccr, ii., 11, and Id. ix. 179)? 



I quite believe that those specimens that emerge here and fly about 

 in the late autumn and early winter (in 1877 imagmes were captured in 

 December) lay their eggs, contrary to the generally accepted idea on the 

 Continent, and that both the eggs, young larvce (if hatched) and imagines 

 are killed off. If a specimen of a hybernating butterfly goes into hyber- 

 nation, I believe it does so at once, and the femalts are then usually 

 unfertilised. The fact that so few edusa go into hybernation here, but 

 attempt to fly actively about during the winter, points to a conclusion 

 that their failure to continue here is essentially due to climatic causes, 

 but of how these act we appear to be at present in hopeless ignorance. 

 At any rate I believe the species can only hi. perpetuated by imagines 

 which, on emergence go directly into hybernation, and safely pass the 

 winter in that stage. — J. W. Tutt. October ']tk, 1892. 



Notes of the Season. — Gahvay. — My captures have not been 

 specially interesting so far, except a specimen of Eupithecia togata, 

 taken in a fir wood some miles from here. — J. E. R. Allen, Gahvay. 



Chippenham Fin. — During my stay at AVicken, I took a run over 

 to Chippenham on the first Friday in August. It was a fine hot day, 

 and although I knew day work was almost useless as a rule in the 

 Fens, I thought I might get something entomologically besides the 

 pleasure of looking over new ground. I met Mr. Cross of Ely as soon 

 as I got there, and he enabled me to find my way about much more 

 quickly than 1 could have managed alone. There is no doubt for 

 most Fen insects, Chippenham Fen is far beyond Wicken, and the 

 numerous trees scattered as belts all over the Fen give quite a dis- 

 tinctive character to iL Much of the Fen is known as "Poor's Land" 

 and is public property, the rest is private and preserved, and it appears 

 that the keepers do their best to keep off" visitors from the whole. But 

 there is certainly enough public land to serve entomologists for their 

 work. Great beds of Eupatorium cannabimim abound almost every- 

 where in the "Fen," and on these the larvai of Plusia orichalcea zx^ 

 taken in some abundance in June. Maoogaster atundinis, too, is 



