ENTOMOLOGICAL HAUNTS FOR A SEASON. 293 



things appear ; there is At^teraficopus nulmndosm at Rannock, Xylomigea 

 (■(insiiicillaris recorded from Kent and Herefordshire, and certain to 

 be well distributed over the intermediate country. May brings out a 

 number of species, and two famous locahties present themselves : 

 (1) Wicken Fen, where someone has yet to win Hj/drilla palustris, 

 and where the disappointed entomologist may solace himself with an 

 abundance oi Mdiana tfioniiica and Viiiiiiiia allxnruosa : (2) Wye, where, 

 on the Downs, the retiring Pachetra Unocophaea comes to sugar with 

 Afiroth cinerea ; whilst an abundance of local species, including 

 Scoria dealbata, haunts the same little-known ground. For early 

 June, sugar in Abbot's Wood (or, for the matter of that, any other 

 large wood) is in some seasons the most profitable work. The middle 

 of the month should find the collector in the Breck district — Brandon, 

 Tuddenham, etc. — invading the restricted homes of Aurophila trahcalh, 

 Acidalia ruhif/inata {nthricata), Arnntia luctunsa, and numerous other 

 rarities, whilst a day or two at Chippenham can then be easily put in 

 for Banksia an/oitula. About the middle of the month, too, a day or 

 two on the marshes below Gravesend or around Ely should be 

 attempted for Ijeiicania nbsoleta and Senta nutritima. 



During the first fortnight of July the New Forest is tempting, but, 

 for those who prefer the sport, the Agrotids of Freshwater — lunifiera and 

 luceniea — and Acidalia Itumiliata are in full swing. Towards the end 

 of the month it is time that the Broads — Ranworth, Horning— were 

 visited, and the larva of Nona(fria cannae found. At the same time 

 the general work there is of the most inspiriting order, for Leucania 

 hrcrilinea and other Noctuids are abundant. The first fortnight 

 in August is, to my mind, often the most dead of the year, 

 unless one is in Scotland, when this fortnight runs hard the sunny 

 month of June for first honours, for now rarities and local species 

 appear profusely. With the last fortnight in August a return to the 

 Fens should take place, for now the autumnal insects are in full force, 

 whilst with the second week in September, after having spent a few 

 days at Reading for the rarer " Sallow " moths [Xantkia), some 

 sheltered and favoured spot on the coast is to be found — Freshwater, 

 Sandown or Folkestone — for Leucania alhipuncta, L. nmscidosa and 

 ('aradrina awhi<iua, or, if these will not appear, Tnjphaena suhsequa 

 and Apnrophyla australifi will reward you. The collectors on the 

 southern coast also know best what to do with the later autumn — 

 Portland for Heliophnbus /linjdduft and Kpunda lichcnca, whilst Da.vj- 

 ca)iijia rubiyinca appears to favour most the counties of Hampshire, 

 Dorset and Somerset, and after Dr. Riding's catch of Orrhodia 

 er>/throcc}diala, I should prefer Devon to Kent for a chance of this 

 species ; for, as yet, I must confess myself a sceptic as to the reputed 

 Kent haunts of this latter species. 



This note strikes me as a fearful sort of confession, likely to put 

 temptation in the way of omnivorous collectors, and to draw down 

 upon me the vials of Mr. Harold Hodge's wrath, but surely a man 

 must be a most unsatisfactory creature who catches more insects than 

 will serve him for the special line of study he professes, or who 

 catches insects without studying them at all. I prefer to agree with 

 E.H.A., as to the mass of entomologists not being by nature cruel. 

 Speaking of this, that author says : — " Another charge brought 

 against entomologists is that of cruelty, and it is even more groundless 

 than that of puerility. Nothing is more unfeeling than ignorance, and 



