NOTES ON COLLECTING. "2td5 



ripped up the rush until the pupa was reached. In this manner they 

 had cleared the ditch, about 200 yards long, not a pupa was to be found. 

 I have, however, been fortunate this year in finding about a dozen 

 larvae of Apamea opkiiuiramina and, as already recorded, Senta iimvitiina 

 and Leucania obsoleta. I thought it rather remarkable that, on the 

 same evening in July, I should find half -grown larvfe, pupfe, and 

 imagines of Ar/distis heuiietii, the former accounting for the fact that 

 stragglers were met with till quite the end of August. The larvae of 

 Eiipithecia abst/nthiata, E. centaureata, E. subimibrata, E. linariata, E. 

 isofiraimnata and E. natyrata have been fairly numerous, whilst those 

 of Hadena saasa, H. chenopodii and Pelurr/a comitata have been abun- 

 dant. A few imagines of Mamestra abjecta were captured, but in 

 nothmg like the numbers of last year. — J. Ovenden, Frindsbury, 

 Eochester. Atii/uM 31st, 1904. 



The bad season for Lepidoptera in Devon. — ^The season in my 

 immediate locality has been, as for the last two or three years, most 

 unsatisfactory : sugar a complete failure, and no signs of any of our 

 local insects. I searched in vain for larva^ of Amblj/ptilia acantho- 

 dactyla and A. rnsuxHlarti/la and could not find one— in some parts the 

 Stachya was less abundant than usual, in others growing in profusion. 

 Have any of your readers bred from the black larvae of Abradcis i/rofisii- 

 lariata from the north, and, if so, with what results ? From between two 

 or three dozen I received this year I only bred one slight variation, the 

 black markings of the imago on the hind margin being radiated. — 

 W. S. Ridinu, M.D., Buckerell, E. Devon. September Srd, 1904. 



Lepidoptera in the King's Lynn district. — The season here has 

 been one of the worst I have ever experienced. Insects (and particu- 

 larly lepidoptera) have been scarce, and the same may be said of the 

 larvie of many species, as ]'a7iesm io, A;/lais urticae and Pyranieis 

 atalanta, have been comparatively scarce. I have seen a few each of 

 the two former species, but only two specimens of the latter. I also 

 observed only one S Gonepteryx rliaiuni in August, also one Pyranieis 

 card id, in a lucerne field, and on two occasions during the same month 

 saw specimens of Colias ediim, whilst I know of one taken at Hun- 

 stanton. Not a The3lid has been seen on the wing; certainly I have 

 not seen one, and a search for larva; of Thecla ir-albuin resulted in a 

 blank, and only two of Zephyrus quercm turned up. The common 

 " whites " are an exception to the general scarcity, indeed so abundant 

 are they now that I wonder if there has been an immigration to swell 

 their numbers. Two years ago a swarm of Pieris braasicae was ob- 

 served one day in August coming from the sea, at Hunstanton, and in 

 such numbers that they resembled, to some extent, a snow-storm. 

 Immigration on this particular occasion began about 10 a.m. or 10.30 

 a.m., and continued all day, without intermission, until about 6 p.m. 

 Agrius conndvtdi is also turning up in some numbers in Kuig's Lynn 

 and district. Several have been brought to me alive, but only three 

 of them in a condition worth setting. Many of them I have no doubt 

 are bred in the district, for the pupae have been occasionally dug up in 

 the potato-fields, where Coniuilviilus arvevsh grows plentifully. I have 

 also had larvae brought me from such a source, but have failed to rear 

 them. My best capture for the year has been a nice series of Crawbus 

 alpinellus, from the coast sand-hills, but I failed to get C. fasceliuellus. 

 On one occasion, at the end of June, I took 27 specimens of Coremia 

 quadrifasciaria in an hour, many of them in fine condition. There 



