272 THE ENTOMOtOGISl's RECOEt)* 



in the reed stem, and providing a water-tight door for exit and to ket'|) 

 out the flood water. Newman gives no authority for this statement, 

 and there can he no doubt he copied it from some writer who 

 knew as little about the subject as himself. I find that 

 the period, of flight of this insect is much longer than Newman 

 tells us. He gives only August, whereas Merrin gives August, 

 September and October, and Stainton, from the end of August 

 to October. These dates I have found to be correct, foi- I have 

 myself taken it from August 31st (1893) to October 21st (189;")), and as 

 the specimens taken on the latest date were many of them (]uite 

 fresh, it was evident that they had only just emerged, the insect 

 being one which is peculiarly liable to damage from flight. I did not 

 have a chance of taking August specimens this year, not having dis- 

 covered the habits of the perfect insect until late in the season, but I 

 should imagine that it is as abundant then as later, if not more so. 



I find that C. lutosa has various ways of spending the evening 

 when, presumably, it alone interests itself in mundane atiairs. Of 121 

 specimens, I have recorded the following particulars: — One was 

 taken at ivy-blossom; one flying; three &t light; fire at sugar, and 

 one hundred and eleven resting. I do not, of course, mean to suggest that 

 C. lutosa does not fly much. Its time of flight is probably very short, 

 but when it does fly it flies sAviftly and vigorously. I will not bore 

 you by details of my efforts to capture it on the wing — with a hat — 

 and only remark that it has a habit of showing itself in flight when 

 one has not got a net, and that I have never caught it in my hat. But 

 Avhat need to try to catch it flying, when you know the habits of the insect, 

 and how easy it is to catch it napping? It was then I caught it. One 

 evening in the early part of October, having either no leisure or no 

 energy to go out myself, I persuaded an old friend to go after C. lutosa 

 while I stayed at home. I told him all I thought and knew about its 

 habits. " You will find it flying up and down, and in out the reeds 

 just at dusk, and later on it settles on the reeds, either alone or paired." 

 Well, he went, and returned complaining that I had sent him on a 

 wild-goose chase (I think he called it a " fool's errand.") Where 

 had he been ? To the reed beds, to which I had sent him. Of 

 course I apologised, and tried to make him understand that I had set 

 him to substantiate my theory that C. lutosa was a rare insect at 

 Kainham. He laughed — a sorry laugh. I had to conciliate him, and 

 to do this had to part with one of my worn-out specimens, and a 

 promise to wire to him if I solved the mystery as to the head-quarters 

 of 0. lutosa. I did not give up the matter, but shortly afterwards I 

 took the village schoolmaster, one or two of my most intinuite friends, 

 and half-a-dozen school boys, with nets and bull's-eyes, and down we 

 went to the reed-beds. We searched most carefully outside and inside 

 the luxuriant forests of reeds, for a half-mile or so, Avithout success. 

 Not a moth was to be seen — not a ghost of a moth — though every few 

 minutes one or other called out, " I think I saw one flying." Yes ! 

 flying did not suit my purpose ; I knew that all the fliers were worn 

 to shreds. 8o we went on until, at last, worn ourselves, tired and dis- 

 appointed, we turned back. Fortunately we left the reed-beds, and 

 took a short cut, which led us alongside a poor little marsh ditch, 

 where some reeds grew someAvhat sadly. Doubtless their roots hud 



