296 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



by the direct route. Acidalia arers-ata and Larentia diih/ninta swarmed 

 at dusk, but practically nothing else was taken, though I'hcrudcsiiia 

 pUHtulata was seen. — Lawrence J. Tremayne, Hon. Sec. 



The habitat of Crambus alpinellus. — This species is rare in 

 England. It was taken in some numbers by Moncreatt", at Southsea, 

 and I have taken it myself at Deal. When this species was added to 

 the British fauna, Knaggs wrote {E.M.M., viii., p. 110) : " AlpinMw^, 

 I presume, was named on the principle of ' lucus a non lucendo,' since 



Zeller remarks, ' in Alpibus nunquam inventus est ' It 



inhabits sandy grassy spots, especially in fir woods." I have myself 

 taken it in the Dauphine Alps, at about 4,500 feet, between Le 

 Dauphin and Le Freney, in the Romanche Valley, in a waste field 

 far from woods, and by the roadside, where also Acidalia nihricata 

 was abimdant. It would appear, therefore, that Zeller's observation 

 will not altogether hold good. ( '. aljiinellus, it appears, must be added 

 to those species which, like Lithosia lutardla var. pijiinKwola, Acidalia 

 oclirata, etc., love the waste fields in the lower Alpine districts, and in 

 England are strangely confined to the coast. L. lutardla in its typical 

 form, of course, goes much higher, but the variety rarely reaches an 

 altitude much above 4,000 feet. — J. W. Tutt. 



Notes from New Forest and Wicken. — My collecting this year 

 has been confined to the New Forest and Wicken Fen, and I have 

 done but little in either locality. I began at the end of April beating 

 for larviTB of Apatura iris, but found that occupation scarcely more 

 remunerative than it was last year. At the same time the oaks pro- 

 duced larvfe of Boarmia roboraria< and Hylophila qnercuna, and a 

 few of I'horodesma bainlaria were taken. Earlier in the season 

 larvte of Cleorn glabrnria, C. Uchenaria and Boarmtn ahietaria were 

 taken at least as freely as usual. One larva of C. glahraria yielded 

 it, fine dark suffused specimen. Larv^ of Agrotis ngathina, after 

 having been very scarce for several years, were more plentiful this 

 year. It is worth a note that several of the insects, which until 

 recently were looked upon as common in the New Forest, have become 

 rather suddenly scarce, among which may be mentioned Lithosia 

 sororcula and Boarmia consortaria. 



The season at Wicken appears to have been quite up to the average, 

 though there, as elsewhere, many of the species have occurred a good 

 deal later than usual. In the earlier part of the season Cymatophora 

 ocularis and Leucania obsoleta were taken sparingly, and two speci- 

 mens of Hydrilla palustris ; but, so far as I have been able to ascer- 

 tain, no Hadena atriplicis and but few Agrotis obscura. At the 

 beginning of August there were very few specimens of Pharetra 

 {Arsilonche) venosa. I took, however, one finely-marked specimen 

 of Celaena hnivorthii, a species which the local collectors appeared 

 not to recognise, although it had previously been recorded by Tugwell. 

 There was also a specimen of Acidalia rubricata taken at light in the 

 Fen itself, which is unusual ; and so late as August 3rd, I captured 

 Macrogaster arundinis, a date which gives a wider range of flight 

 to that insect than is generally assigned to it. — J. C. Moberly, M.A., 

 F.E.S., 9, Rockstone Place, Southampton. 



Lepidoptera at Sandown. — Soon after my arrival at Sandown, 

 this year, I obtained one or two nice aberrations of Bryophila perla, two 

 or three Agrotis exclamationis, with confluent stigmata, and a fine 

 melanic aberration of Miana literosa. I never remember to have seen 



