﻿NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 79 



days, I certainly then thought that they all came from L. quercus 

 cocoons, but I may have been mistaken. One specimen of serotinus 

 has the base of segments of abdomen black, with apices only yellow. 

 — E. B. Nevinson ; Moorland, Cobham. 



[Only seven specimens of Sphinctus were known as British, and 

 such records as Mr. Nevinson's go to show how little incentive is 

 necessary to induce our entomological observers to record species 

 hitherto considered of the greatest rarity, with the result that 

 knowledge of the neglected groups is instantly broadened. No . 

 doubt can, I think, be entertained that the above examples emerged 

 from Limacodcs, its only known host; Sphinctus is a solitary parasite, 

 and L. quercus seems too large a host for its comfort. — C. M.] 



Sphinx convolvuli and Acherontia atropos at Eastbourne 

 IN 1911. — SpJmix convolvuli appears to have been fairly common at 

 Eastbourne during September of last "year ; my own acquaintance 

 with the species consisted in finding a very worn specimen at rest 

 on a fence nea-r the sea on the morning of tlie 18th, but my friend, 

 Mr. Sharp, informs me that two were found at rest on the beach by 

 the bathing machine proprietor and brought to him ; one was taken 

 flying over flowers of tobacco plant, and another from a street lamp 

 near his house. Of six that fell to the lot of anotlier collector, three 

 were taken at rest about the roadways, and one from a sheet hung 

 out on a clothes line to dry ; while yet another half dozen are 

 accounted for by Mr. Chartris, most of them taken at rest in various 

 parts of the town ; he also took two larvte, the first found crawling 

 in the roadway, and the other by searching the food-plant in the 

 vicinity, which was found to be much eaten ; one of them went to 

 earth but failed to pupate, the other was given by him to a friend, 

 but how it fared is not known. An example of Acherontia atropos 

 was found among some boards in the town in October last while 

 they were being removed, and another was reared from a pupa found 

 at Wannock. — R. Adkin ; Lewisham, January, 1912. 



Second brood of Apatura iris, &c. — Last September, when 

 moving a sleeve containing thirteen larvae of A. iris (from tlie wild), 

 I noticed that one had outgrown the hybernating size. This one 

 continued to feed up slowly. About the middle of October, owing to 

 the cold weather and condition of the foliage, I brought it indoors. 

 On November 4th it pupated, and a rather small female emerged on 

 November 29th. Other species bred as a second brood, all reared 

 under natural conditions, were Argynnis selene, Boarmia consortaria, 

 Tephrosia crepuscularia, ab. clelamerensis, Angerona prunaria (two 

 only out of a large number, both very small females), Acidalia 

 aversata, and A. subsericeata. — Edward Goodwin ; Canon Court, 

 Wateringbury, January 13th, 1912. 



Colias hyale in Hants, 1911. — Though rather late in the day, it 

 may be of interest to mention that my son caught a female C. hyale, 

 on August 14th last in the New Forest, near Lyndhurst. I should 

 be glad to know if many of this species were taken during last 

 summer.— (Captain) W. G. Manley ; 62, Albert Hall Mansions, S.W., 

 January 10th, 1912. 



