NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 



301 



took several <y s of Taleporia pseudohomhycella flying in the siinshine, 

 an insect I liave never taken in tlie perfect state before, though the 

 cases are usually plentiful. Captures at light were Thi/afi/ra hatis, 

 Hadena suasa and H. thalassiaa, Caradrma morpheuif, C. ahines, Noctiia 

 ruhi (the forms I get here are small, and seem analogous to those 

 small forms of N. f estiva figured by Newman under N. conjiua) Plmia 

 iota, P. pulchrina, Selenia Innaria, Acidalia imitaria, Eupithecia pidchellata, 

 Hypsipetes ruherata, Eucosmia certata, and other common species. 

 Nothing was taken in any plenty, and after the 20th June light was an 

 utter failure. Even Noctna xantho<jrapha was quite a rarity. I bred 

 sundry Folia chi from larvae feeding on tansy (Tanacetnm vulgaris), an 

 uncommon food plant but one that blends admirably Avith the cater- 

 pillar, so well indeed that it might be its normal pabulum. This larva 

 feeds on all kinds of unlikely plants. I have found it on lily of the 

 valley, foxglove (leaves and flowers), passion flower and thj-me. The 

 larvEe were somewhat plentiful this 3'^ear, but imagines were scarce. I 

 only got one Notodonta dictceoides, and I think that this and other 

 moths with thick-skinned pupge died in that stage owing to the extreme 

 ■dryness of the ground ; the disparity in numbei-s of the larvge and 

 imagines of P. chi seems to bear this out. Besides this the larv^ of 

 many common Noctu.^ Avere plentiful in the spring, though the 

 imagines were exceedingly scarce. Argi/nnis aglaia came out very 

 irregularly, and it was difficult to get a decent specimen. Stilbia 

 anomala was true to time and as common as usual, and a friend of mine 

 took a few Plusia interrogationis at honeysuckle. Autumnal larvae have 

 been very scarce, certain young ^^opl'ii's usually well stripped by 

 Smerinthus popidi and Dicranura vinida. escaped abnost scot-free this 

 year, and I did not see a single larva on them. In September Vanessa 

 atalanta was exceedingly common, lilvcwise Poh/ommatns phheas, and I 

 saw a couple of Vanessa c-album in addition to those captured by Mr. 

 Burnett and recorded in last month's Record. I believe this insect has 

 never been taken here before ; the nearest locality seems to be Kepton 

 Shrubs. At light I took one Xanthia cerago var. flavescens and three 

 X. gilvago, Avliilst Diloha coivideocephala simply swarmed, and was the 

 ■only moth really common this year. I need not point out tliat this 

 moth has a thin- walled pupa, and dry Aveather Avould make no differ- 

 ■ence to it. The common garden larvae are conspicuous by their absence 

 this autumn, but Nature has endeavoured to stop the gap by providing 

 an extra croj) of earwigs, which have done a great deal of damage to 

 my flowers, especially the dahlias. Of second broods (unusual here at 

 least) I have seen the following : — Eupithecia nanafa, E. pidchellata, 

 Caradrina cubicidaris and Rimiia cratmgata. — Kichard Freer, Rugeley, 

 Staffs. Octoher Zlst, 1893. 



Autumn Notes. — New Forest. — In the November number of The 

 Ent. Record last year I gave an account of our sugaring experiences in 

 the New Forest, and as we have been sugaring the same ride this 

 Jiutumn in the same way, it may be interesting to relate this year's 

 •experience for comparison with that of last year. The first night on 

 Avhich my son and I sugared Avas September 5th, the last Avas October 

 9th. During that period Ave sugared thirteen times. We took 520 

 insects and saAv the same species as last year, Avitli the exception of 

 Triphcena suhseqna (of Avhich Ave had a fcAv Aveeks earlier taken scA^eral 

 specimens near Romsey), Epunda nigra and Calocampa vetnsta, and we 



