44 iJ'iiy, 18G6. 
never have taken Sterrha sacraria, as it was quite out of view from the ground ; 
and another time, on descending, I found a splendid Gastropacha quercifoUa on my 
waistcoat, by which it was actually wiped off the iron without my noticing it. 
Notodonta dictma, the Smerinthi, and many others, get close underneath the lamp, 
and peep at the flame from below ; while the Phycidce, and numbers of other small 
species, find their way into the flame, and sometimes, though not by any means 
always, get burned, as was the case with an unfortunate Agrophila sulpJiuralis, of 
which enough only remained to identify it and tantalize me. Very many species, 
NoctucB especially, delight in posting themselves on the dark outside of the upright 
frame which generally supports a lamp, or on the leaded case itself, and settle 
themselves so closely, that a very near and keen inspection is required to detect 
them ; while Peridea trepida, and some of the other " prominents," viewed from 
the ground, have a most inconvenient resemblance to dead leaves, sticks, and the 
lumps of mud which are often thrown at the lights by small boys, and individuals 
under the exhilarating and ennobling (?) influence of intoxicating liquors. 
I, therefore, most decidedly recommend the " swarming " plan, as my friends 
derisively call it ; for, although it is not desirable in the case of a newly painted lamp- 
post, nor easy in that of one a dozen feet high, —straight, smooth, or fluted, with 
no rest for the feet, — luckily these cases are the exceptions. Any one who feels 
himself too heavy to climb may, if he thinks proper, carry a ladder, or get some one 
to carry it for him, for a night's work would tire him without carrying a' load ; but 
he must place it very carefully, as the least jar will send many moths away, not to 
return. An opera glass, too, might probably be useful, though I never tried it or 
the ladder. 
The time to commence the search is about ten o'clock, p.m. ; very few things 
come to lamps sooner, but they continue to appear till dawn, and often settle down 
towards the latter part of the night, so that all the sport sometimes occurs in the 
last hour or two, from two to three o'clock a.m. being a capital time. — Charles G. 
Barrett, Haslemere. 
Description of the larva of Acidalia ornata. — I have more than once had eggs of 
this species, but never succeeded in rearing the larvae to full-growth. On the 30th 
last .Tuly I received eggs from Mr. Wright, the larvae from which are at the time 
I write this still quite small, and not looking likely to como to perfection, although 
I took some trouble to procure for .them plants of wild thyme, thinking it might 
suit them better than the garden sort. However, almost on the same day with 
Mr. Wright's eggs, I received from the Rev. J. Greene some larv(B feeding on mint, 
wliich had even then (last July) nearly attained their full growth ; and from other 
larv£e of the same brood, Mr. Greene, in the course of last autumn, bred the moths. 
My small hybernating larvae are about 4 lines in length, very rugose, and very dark 
and dingy to look ; but with a lens one can see that the back is brownish ochreous, 
with a pale grey interrupted dorsal line, and five dusky \b on the middle segments, 
with their apices pointing forward. When full-grown the larva is not quite an 
inch in length, rather slender, almost uniform in bulk throughout : the head 
slightly notched, the skin rugose ; the spiracular region puffed out and puckered. 
The ground colour of the back is brownish ochreous ; the dorsal line fine and 
