NOTES OX COLLECTIMi, ETC. 11 



Septenilier IGtli ; .1. Innosa and M. ferrvginea, September 22ml; H. 

 protca, Septeml)er 27th ; C. psittacata, September 28tli ; T. firinalu, 

 on September 21st. It will Ije observed that these dates are nearly all 

 later than those given for the respective species in Mr. Moberly's notes. 

 I think that if I had stayed another week, insects would have Ijeen 

 commoner, and I should have got most of the species which he got and 

 I did not, if not on treacle, at least on the ivy, which, I regret to say, 

 was only beginning to come out properly Avhen I left, which was on 

 the 2'.)th. I saw one weather-beaten Triphcena promiha, and also 

 Plusia gamma on two nights ; is the latter at all of common occurrence 

 at treacle ?* I have never seen it before. I can corroborate Mr. 

 Moberly's remarks as to the time of a})pearance at the treacle. The 

 moths generally arrived about 6 p.m. {i.e., just before sunset) and re- 

 mained on about an hour and a quarter, after which very few were to 

 be seen. Other orders, represented l)y beetles, slugs, snails and spiders 

 then had the feast to themselves. I once counted on one tree, eleven 

 snails and three slugs. Hornets also came on just before the moths 

 and remained about a quarter of an hour. It was interesting to ol iserve 

 that the moths violated all the rules laid down by our " Handbooks," 

 " Guides," '* Companions," &c., for the regulation of moths visiting the 

 treacle patches. They came on bright moonlight nights and on nights 

 Avhen it was cold, misty or windy. In fact, the best night of all was 

 the 27th Septemljer, Avhen it was so windy that moths Avere very 

 nearly blown off the treacle on the more exposed trees. This confirms 

 Mr. Adye's note in Ent., vol. xx., p. 86. On another day (the 2Sth) it 

 had been raining a good deal during the afternoon ; but in the evening 

 the clouds cleared off. When I went as usual to treacle I found the 

 trees dripping, the ground like a sponge, and a thick wlute mist over 

 the meadoAvs ; besides these pleasant details the moon was shining and 

 the air was decidedly chilly ; yet in spite of all this there Avere lots of 

 moths on the treacle. I liaA'e therefore come to the conclusion that the 

 A'isits to treacle of autumnal insects are not in the least affected hy 

 Aveather. I vmxj further mention that during the first Aveek of my 

 stay we had seA'eral frosts ; probably-, I should think, shortlj' after 

 midnight, as I did not see any signs of them myself. Mothing in the 

 early CA^ening Avith the net Avas a dead failure, the only species seen 

 being Rumia hiteolata, tAvo or three in fine condition. Butterflies Avere 

 woefully scarce, the only ones seen at Lyndhurst being Gonopderii-c 

 rhamni (moderately common and slightly Avorn) ; Vanessa io ("occasion- 

 ally) ; V. atalanta (1), on an iAy liush on September 28tli ; Colias edusa 

 (1), two of Avliich I caught — both males, one perfect, the other much 

 Avom ; Satyr fts egeria, not i;ncommon and not as fresh as they might 

 have been. Epmephde titlwnns (1) $ Avorn ; very fcAv " Whites," no 

 " Blues," no " Fritillaries," no " Skippers." I expected to see A'ery 

 miserable examples of all these gi'oujis, and Avas surprised to find that 

 not even such Avere A'isible. The absence of butterflies in the en- 

 closures Avas somcAvhat relieved by the usual frantic zigzagging of Orgyia 

 antiqua, Avhich Av^as fairly common and imparted a little life to the 

 scene. 



*It occasionally comes, but Ave have seen liundreds flying at the flowers 

 growing at the foot of a post Ave had treacled Avithout one being attracted by 

 the artiflcial " sweets." — Ed. 



