126 [May, 



RANDOM NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA IN 1894. 

 BY EUSTACE E. BANKES, M.A., F.E.S. 



The past season has been, in this part of the country, about the 

 worst, from a Lepidopterist's point of view, that I ever remember. 

 After a glorious spell during the latter half of March and first 

 fortnight of April, which, with the previous mild weeks, made the 

 spring, up to a certain date, no less early than the jDhenomenal one of 

 1893, the weather was, on the whole, terribly wet and stormy for the 

 rest of the year ; our rainfall was some 10 inches above the average, 

 and still more largely in excess of that of the preceding year. On the 

 occasional fine days when there seemed a chance of making a good 

 " bag," one nearly always had to put up with many disappointments, 

 both Macro- and Micro -Lepidoptei^a alike being for the most part 

 exceptionally scarce in all stages, and some of the most interesting 

 local species not being observed at all. 



The following stray notes refer to the Isle of Purbeck, unless it 

 is otherwise stated : — 



As regards the Diurni, JPieris brassices was, as in so many other 

 districts, chiefly conspicuous by its almost total absence ; only one 

 crossed my path during the year, but I fancy that I caught a glimpse 

 of another in the distance ! Of Colias Edusa none were seen in the 

 early summer, and but three or four in the autumn, whilst Vanessa 

 cardui, which, as mentioned in my note on p. 210 of the last volume, 

 appeared in goodly numbers in the beginning of June, and which, had 

 not the wet summer been so fatal to the larvae, would doubtless have 

 been abundant in August and September, was then only occasionally 

 seen. Early in May a search, on behalf of a friend, for larvae of 

 Hesperia Actceon produced a limited number, of very various sizes, in 

 rolled leaves of Bra city podium pinnatum, but later on the imago was 

 not nearly so common as in the previous summer. 



Of the Nocturni, a specimen of Acherontia Atropos, which had 

 apparently flown to a light inside a closed window, was picked up 

 stunned in a street in Corfe, and a male Porthesia chrysorrhcea was 

 taken at light at Swanage. Lithosia griseola, and its var. stramineola, 

 which in my experience seems to outnumber the type, were more 

 plentiful than usual, as I think were some other lichen- and moss- 

 feeders ; this was probably due in a measure to the luxuriance of their 

 food, whereas in 1893 many such larvae had perished, owing appa- 

 rently to the fact that the excessive drought prevented them from 

 obtaining sufficient nourishment. 



