18:2.1 S9 



Notes on colleciing bi the fen-district. — Some spare evenings devoted to collect- 

 ing in tlie fens round Norwich last summer produced such satisfactory results, that 

 I am induced to think a few notes on them may not be uninteresting. 



The spring being cold and the season late, my first visit was not till May 29tli, 

 ■when I had the gratification for the first time of seeing Papilio Machaon at large in 

 its favourite haunts. It must be confessed, however, that its appearance when on 

 tlie wing is not equal to what might be expected of so fine an insect. It has much 

 of the fluttering liabit of the Pierides, and when fljang about and settling on the 

 flowers of Pedicularis paliistris—a, favourite plant — is hardly noticeable at a 

 moderate distance. On this occasion the wind was strong, and probably prevented 

 them from flying fi-eely. A female rising from some plants of Peucedanuni palustre 

 guided me to the discovery of a couple of eggs on the under-side of the leaflets. 

 Close by was a lovely larva of Orgyia gonostigma (wlaich produced as ugly a $ moth 

 in June), but, except a stvaj PJuclidia glt/phica, and a yellow $ Clef sis rusticana 

 which would keep down among the long grass, nothing more wfts to be obtained. 

 The wind was altogether too cold. 



A week later, although the weather continued cold, a few Micros began to ven- 

 ture out whei'cver a few bushes afforded shelter from the north wind, and I took my 

 first specimens of the pretty little novelty, Phoxopteryx pahtdana, along with P. 

 siculana, Penthina marginana, Ckauliodus lUigerellus and Bucculatrix frangidella. 

 The Peucedaiium afforded half-a-dozen more eggs of Papilio Machaon, the rearing of 

 which has given no little pleasure to kind friends in distant parts of the country. 



By the middle of June, insects were a little more plentifid. Phoxopteryx pahi- 

 dana was accompanied by P. suharcuana, both being almost confined to the wettest 

 open places among the shorter rough grasses, Pedicularis, Spliagmim, &c., and as 

 neither could be induced to show themselves till late in the afternoon, and even then 

 kept among the herbage, hiding at the roots when pursued, it was a difiicult task to 

 secure a decent series. At the same time, P^upceciUa griseana appeared pretty com- 

 monly, and, very rarely, E. notulana. Penthina marginana had become common ; a 

 very beautiful variety of Sericoris lacunana — blackish, with lustrous lines — which 

 seems peculiar to the fen district, was occasionally to be met with, and a few of the 

 larger species, such as Sydrelia unca and Acidalia immutata, had begun to appear. 

 Of the Tineina, Nemophora metaxella (which afterwards became very common), 

 Elachista cerussella and paludum, and Bucculatrix cidarella flew in the shelter of 

 the alder bushes, and Glyphipteryx cladiella, Gelechia acuminatella, Lithocolletis 

 quiuqueguttella, and the lovely little Cosmopleryx Lienigiella among the reeds, dwarf 

 sallows, &c., in the open parts of the fen. In the tops of the dwarf sallow {Salix 

 repens ?) were larva of Clostera reclusa and Semasia popnlana, and on the leaves of 

 Hupatoriuni cannahimun the cases and large white blotches of the larvae of Coleo- 

 phora troglodytella. On the same leaves was occasionally to be seen the lovely 

 longicorn beetle, Agapanthia lineatocollis, with its beautifully annulated antenna) 

 extended in front. 



June 27th was a white letter day with me. As usual, the wind was cold, but 

 by good fortune I spied, on a blossom of Carduiis palustris, a small, neat, narrow 

 winged Glyphipteryx — not Fischerella ; and, by searching the flowers and sweeping 

 the rushes, I soon obtained a tolerable series. This proved to be G. schrenicolella, 

 originally found by Mr. Boyd at the Land's End, and, as far as I am aware, never 



