82 [April. 



fov coast species, this moth was specially abundant and we had no 

 difficvilty in obtaining 80 in an evening, either on the winger at rest on 

 grass-stalks. So fai- as we could tell, en n tola was practically confined to 

 this COAX". I do not mean to say that we never got it any distance away, 

 because I have taken specimens from street-lamps half a mile fi'om the 

 sea, and also odd ones up and down the coast. But it is very local. Large 

 numbers of larvae wei'e taken in the spring without apparently having 

 much effect in reducing the subsequent numbers of the perfect insect. Tn a 

 letter I have before me from the late Mr. (J. C. Bignell, he wrote that 

 ho took larvae of caiiiola on Bolthead, Devon, so long ago as 1S72. 



Spliiu.r {■oiiro/r/il/. — This line insect visits us during the autumn, 

 sometimes in considerable numbers, though certainly not every year. 1 

 made two very large cyanide jars specially for convolvuli, and on several 

 occasions have caught them in such quick succession that both jars had 

 to be emploA'cd. Each season I usually grew a big bed of Nicotinna 

 (t.ffinh for the particular delectation of these monsters, and they were 

 very kind in sliowing their appreciation. In 1901 I took quite a 

 nmnber, including some very ])erfect and beautiful specimens. In our 

 garden was a large vinery, and several self-sown plants of tobacco had 

 come into ilowei" thei'e. By leaving all the windows and doors open at 

 night I found that coni^oh'iili was attracted inside and easily secm'cd at 

 I'cst on the woodwork in the early morning. 



1 recollect once i-eading that (S*. lignsfri (with us quite one of the 

 connnonest of the hawk-moths) did not visit ITicotiana flowers like 

 cnnrolr/fli. Tliis, however, is qm'te a n.iistake, and probably arose from 

 the fact that tb.e tobacco is not usually in bloom early enough for 

 J/f/uf;fr/. One year I grew a big batch of this ]>lant under glass, and 

 witli lie;i\y doses of artiiicial stinndants they made magnificent heads of 

 !)Iooms. To make room foi- other things I turned them all out of doors 

 wliile still in flower, and watched in the evening to see whether they 

 wen; visited by any insects. S. ligiistri came in numbers, and it was a 

 ])retty sight to watch them bending down the long thin stalks of the 

 ])lants, from which I liad taken the supporting sticks. 



GaUiinorplni dominula. — Twenty years ago a very strong colony of 

 this exotic-looking moth existed in a cove in our cliffs. The larvae were 

 usualh'^ in great abundance in the spring, and T have taken a hundred in 

 (juite a few minutes by cautiously climbing down the steep clilf-sides. 

 Care was necessar\% as a fall might result in a watery grave in the sea 

 ))cl()w. How gorgeous, later on, were the moths, flying about in the 

 hottest smishine! Unfortunately, collectors from other places got to 

 hear of the presence of dominula there, with the resvilt that it has been 



