I 



NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 343 



tages, Syrichtns malvo', Tephnma bmndular/'a, Venilia macnlaria, Selenia 

 lunaria, Numeria pulveraria, Heliodes tenehrata, &c., kept turning up in 

 their usual localities, and later on L/'gdia admtata, Emmelesia decolorata, 

 Coremia designata, Cidaria silaceata, C. truncata, Dasychira pudihunda, 

 Grammesia trigrammica and its var. hilinea, Pliisia chri/sitis, P. pulchrifna, 

 Hadeiia thalasslna, Leucania comma, Mameslra furini, Nemeophila russula, 

 (two being J s), Bonihi/x ruhi, Hypenodes alb istrig alt's, Notodonta 

 trrmacula (bred), Eurymene dolohraria (bred) X^c. and then the usual 

 autumn insects. Five pairs of eyes could not manage to count up a 

 dozen Agrotis agathina between them, after well searching its home for 

 several nights in August, and nearly all of these turned up at the end 

 of the month and had only too evidently seen better days. The form 

 taken here is very handsome, more or less reddish and larger and 

 paler than those Scotch insects I have seen. My son took a ? , which 

 laid a good supply of eggs, and the young larva3 are still feeding on 

 Scotch heather as well as ling ; they look healthy enough as yet (a few 

 have moulted a third time), but there is still many a long week before 

 they can pass the Eubicon, and I shall not feel safe till they have pupated. 

 Stilbia anoinala was abundant on the heathery slopes of the hills and 

 wanted, as usual, a sharp eye and hand to catch it during its first flight 

 just as it got dark. I found an easier way was to wait till between 

 9 and 10 p.m. when many could be boxed at rest on the top of the 

 reeds and grasses, tired out. Most of the ? s were spent, but two laid 

 a few eggs and some larvae are now feeding on the common Poa. 

 Unfortunately I was somewhat late for the insect in the middle of 

 August. It must have been out some little time, though it very soon 

 gets damaged. Noctua castanea var. neglecta also turned up at heather 

 as usual, but none of the intermediate vars. between it and castanea. 

 A few Luperina cespitis were taken flying to the lanterns (and in the 

 moth trap a few ^ s), and one netted by a friend obligingly scattered 

 several hundred eggs in the pill box as soon as cajjtured, in which act 

 she had probably been disturbed. The eggs soon changed and have 

 been for many weeks of a leaden colour and silvery hue, the youno- 

 larvae evidently only waiting for the first sjjell of warm weather in 

 early spring to emerge. Tapinostola fulva was also taken freely at rest 

 in damp places, on reeds and grasses ; all sorts of varieties, occurred 

 from the unicolorous pale bone coloured form to the large bi'owu 

 insects with distinctive lines and dots. A few handsomely marked 

 Charceas graminis were also taken in a similar way. 



Some sheltered ivy was in bloom at the end of August, and most 

 was fully out in September ; but few insects (except bees, wasps and 

 flies, in the day-time) seemed to visit it. Those that turned up were 

 the usual company, A. macilenta and vars., Orthosia lota, Orrhodia vaccinU, 

 0. ligida, Anchocelis pistacina, Agrotis segetum, Miselia oxyacanthcp, with 

 a few A. saiicia, and best of all, two Xanthia aurago. One of the latter 

 fortunately, was a ? , and laid a small batch of eggs, or rather scattered 

 them, on the stems and leaves of beech. Like those I had last year 

 they soon changed colour, and the young larvas are now hybernating in 

 their shells. The insects I bred from the larvae of 1892, kept emergino- 

 from August 21st till the end of September, at many days interval ; 18 

 in all. I paired two, but though the J s laid a large number of eo-o-s 

 none were fertile. As the insects came out so irregularly, the ? s were 

 necessarily kept waiting for the ^ s, and it has occurred to me that the 



