18EI6.1 • 39 



Habifs of Coremia munitata, Hb. — At page 23 ante, allusion is made to a habit 

 of this species of fljing during the daytime in elevated, exposed, and Alpine regions. 

 I know C. munitata very well, and as I have always considered its principal localities 

 here quite exposed enough, it may be worth mentioning that the creature has not 

 yet acquired here any such convenient habit. The species occurs freely over the 

 greater part of this district, and is especially abundant in the higher moorland 

 tracts, say from 600 to 1000 feet, much bleaker and more exposed than many similar 

 or even greater elevations in highland glens where the surrounding still higher 

 hills afford shelter. The time of appearance is usually about the second week in 

 July, and it begins to fly just as it is getting dark. It is one of the few species 

 which seem to defy cold and wet, and I have seen it flying in hundreds along a 

 moorland ditch when it was so damp, raw, and cold, that one's benumbed hands 

 could hardly manage the net. This habit of flight (late at night) and ability to 

 withstand cold are confirmed by Dr. Wocke, who, in recording his experiences in the 

 Dovrefjeld region of Norway, writes (Stett. Ent. Zeit., 25 Jahrgang, p. 171) — 

 " Stets fand ich mitten in kalter Nacht und bei feinem aber dichtem Regen die 

 Geometren Casiata, Nobiliaria, und Munitata im lebhaften Fluge." I may also 

 add that I have found C. munitata sparingly in June at various elevations amongst 

 the Perthshire mountains, and neither there nor here can I conscientiously say that 

 I have ever seen it fly during the day without being disturbed. Indeed, according 

 to my experience, the species is one of very retiring habits in the daytime, and it is 

 very interesting to me to learn tbat elsewhere its behaviour is sometimes totally 

 opposite. I should be glad to know more precisely the conditions under which this 

 day-flight takes place. — Kenneth J. Moeton, Carluke, N.B. : December Zlst, 1895. 



An early capture in Dorset of Sterrha sacraria, L. — Mr. Bankes' specimen 

 (recorded supra p. 19) should be reckoned the third and not the second S. sacraria 

 that has been caught in the county of Dorset. Tlie earliest capture happened at 

 Biandford in the autumn of 1863 at the latest. The moth, in prime condition, flew 

 into the schoolroom of Milton Abbas Grammar School one evening, attracted by the 

 lights, and was secured by one of the boys (initials A. E. E.) in the middle of 

 lessons. Recognising the species by the figure on the cover of " The Entomologist's 

 Annual " for 1860, and supposing the specimen to be the third so far obtained in 

 England, he consigned it to the Head Master's museum, where no doubt it is still 

 extant and duly registered. The possessor, the Rev. J. Penny, is now Rector of the 

 neighbouring village of Tarrant Rushton or Rawston, if further chronological pre- 

 cision be desired. — A. E. Eaton, Bone, Algeria: January 1th, 1896. 



Abundance of Lasiocampa rubi. — The North Downs in the neighbourhood of 

 Wye were last autumn literally covered with hordes of the larvae of L. rubi. Most 

 were full grown, some being quite active even at the end of November, crawling 

 about among the grass. The noise made by them feeding of a night was quite 

 astonishing. I did not notice any on the Downs until October, when many were 

 then nearly full grown. — F. V. Theobald, Wye Court, near Ashford : January 3rd, 

 1896. 



