178 [January, 



and in quite fresli examples, owing to the darker ground colour, the 

 tessellation of the lighter patches of scales is much more conspicuous : 

 the legs are darker, having the knees and the outer edge of the tibiae 

 more or less pitchy, and the apex of the tibiae (especially of the 

 hinder legs) seems scarcely so enlarged as in socius. 



Having seen a few more specimens than those mentioned by me, 

 I. c, I am enabled somewhat to amend my former account of the 

 characters of the insect, especially with regard to the clothing of 

 scales ; but I can find no sexual differences beyond those above 

 mentioned. These differences seem very obscure in the genus. Dr. 

 Seidlitz, from examining my insects, comes to the conclusion that his 

 own $ socius with thin scape is to be ascribed to a new species, and 

 that socius, as in maritimus, has a thick scape in both sexes. This, 

 however, should be easily ascertained, since C. socius is recorded in 

 Berl. Ent. Zeitschr., 1868 (Beih.), p. 133, as taken by Kiesenwetter 

 in some plenty on the Sierra Nevada, " so dass iiber die Zusammen- 

 " gehorigkeit der beiden Geschlechter kein Zweifel ist." 



Mr. MoncreafE informs me that he only finds C. maritimus on a 

 low bank near a salt marsh, to a few square yards of which it appears 

 confined. He has worked hard to find its larva, but hitherto without 

 success. 



rarkfield, Putney, S.W. : 11th December, 1873. 



Unusual!// late appearance of Cetonia aurata. — On tho 15th of October last, 

 whilst a son and daughter of Dr. King, of Blackheath, were strolling about on that 

 place, their attention was drawn to an insect which flew past them, and alighted on 

 the palings ; they went to the place, and the young lady secured a specimen of the 

 above-named insect, which is now in my possession, and alive at the time I write 

 this. Can any one record a similar fact, or give an idea of what caused such an 

 untimely flight ? — John Scott, 37, Manor Park, Lee, S.E. : December Vlth, 1873. 



Collecting at Forres. — I spent a few days at the end of last August at Forres, 

 in the north of Morayshire, not far from the once famous Fochabers. The season 

 appears to have been unusually bad there, and Lepidoptera were exceedingly scarce. 

 Sugaring produced nothing but Upunda nigra, and a few commoner species. Agrotis 

 agathina, one of the " plums " of the locality, was very difficult to meet with ; and, 

 even when seen, by no means easy of capture. I took, however, a few, in faultless 

 condition ; and a more beautiful insect, when fresh, cannot be conceived. The larvae 

 of Heliothis marginata were pretty common on Ononis, along the shingly banks of 

 the Findhoru. By a long course of beating in the woods round Forres, where 

 birches particularly abound, I gathered together a considerable family of larvae 

 including Demas coryli (not uncommon), Notodonta dromedarius, Abrostola urticcB, 



