290 THE entomologist's record. 



occasions depositing ova singly on Galium verum, and reared severa 

 larvae therefrom, which pupated from the middle of August to the 6th 

 of September. About the middle of September I left home, and before 

 the middle of October a member of my family noticed that two ima- 

 gines had emerged. On the Continent the imago is in flight all 

 winter on sunny^days in mild climates. I think that this is one of the 

 insects whose presence in this country is maintained by immigration. 

 Mr. Mera mentions that M. homhylifonnis has disappeared from its 

 former haunts near Ipswich. I am inclined to think that this change 

 of locality is habitual with this species, as after receiving from a friend 

 in England very full notes as to the habit of the larvae, I and a friend 

 searched most carefully a spot where it used to be very numerous, and 

 which has not been disturbed, but in vain. I was not successful in 

 Monaghan in obtaining Sphi?ix convoivuH, though I planted extensive 

 beds of Nicotiana affinis and other flowers, but a friend in Waterford 

 took a specimen, and another was captured in Sligo. I heard of but 

 one CoUas ediisa in Ireland, viz., at Howth. The weather this autumn 

 has been so extremely wet and cold in the north that I have done no 

 entomologising. The ivy is coming out, but I have not been able to 

 try my luck between engagements and bad weather. I may mention 

 that I have been successful in breeding Emmelesia tcviiiaia, some twelve 

 or fourteen having fed up rapidly and gone down to pupate. — W. F. 

 DE V. Kane. October 26th, 1892. 



New Forest District. — The past season has been distinctly good for 

 the New Forest district. Insects came to sugar very freely in June 

 and the first fortnight of July: — Boarmia roboraria was fairly plentiful, 

 also Argynnis paphia var. valezina ; but, on the other hand, Ckora 

 glabraria was exceedingly scarce ; Catocala promissa was very scarce, 

 but C. sponsa occurred freely, though rather later than usual. No 

 great rarities, however, have turned up, but on the whole I am inclined 

 to think we are entering on a series of better seasons for entomologists. 

 One of the features of this season has been the abundance of larvae of 

 Selenia lUustraria. In this immediate neighbourhood Neiiioria viridata 

 was very plentiful in one or two localities, but I was too much engaged 

 at the time to collect them. This autumn Agrotis saucia has been quite 

 abundant at sugar ; and Colias ediisa has been very common, in fact, 

 anyone so disposed might have taken two or three thousand specimens 

 here and round Swanage. I could only give a very limited time to 

 them, and so only took five var. helice, but another collector secured 

 between twenty and thirty. I had the good fortune, however, to take 

 two ? edusa with scarcely a trace of the yellow blotches on the black 

 borders of the wings. Hesperia actccon was very abundant this year. 

 A curious thing about this insect is that it seems to appear earlier in 

 the season than formerly. This year it was well out on the 12 th of 

 July, though it continued to emerge up to the 8th or loth of August. — 

 Percy M. Bright, Bournemouth. November ^th, 1892. 



Cambridge. — Xanthia giliiago has been fairly plentiful on the gas 

 lamps here, and I have taken a nice variable series. Chaidiodus 

 chcerophylellus larvse here are fairly thick on Pastinica sativa ; the 

 imagines are now coming out and producing a large proportion of almost 

 unicolorous specimens, either black or brown. The larvae of this 

 species seem to straggle on over a long period, full-fed larvre being 



