﻿280 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



16th, together with second brood examples of P. napi and Chiasmia 

 clathrata. A female Geometra iMiyilionaria netted at 10 p.m. on 

 the 18th gave me thirty-nine eggs, four of them laid on the under 

 side of a birch leaf, the remainder on the muslin cover of the flower- 

 pot in which she was confined. A visit to the " moss" on the 23rd 

 found C. imhutata (male) common, and with neither sun nor wind, 

 easy to net. Eain came on, but still they "lifted" freely; the 

 reverse being the case with Selidosoma ericetaria, which seems to 

 like the sunshine, and is sluggish and difficult to move in dull 

 weather. L. agon was common, but looking imssc. Some of the 

 females are nicely splashed with blue. 



On the 30th some twenty newly emerged P. brassica were noted 

 feeding on knapweed flowers on the roadside, and on the 31st Cilix 

 spinula was netted freely in the neighbourhood of blackthorn, and 

 about a dozen Anartis ])lagiata flying at dusk over a small patch of 

 St. John's Wort. Eggs of the latter hatched on August 16th, and 

 the larvae fed as long as the leaves remained, and are now sitting 

 motionless on the dead stems. The same night found imagines of 

 Stilbia anomala plentiful, but rather the worse for wear, on isolated 

 patches of ragwort growing amongst the loose stones of the bare 

 limestone fell. The sexes were about equally common. Though by 

 no means shy of the lamplight, this moth is a difficult one to box off 

 the flower head. If the flower is, by one's clumsiness, jarred or 

 shaken the males usually fly and may be netted, but the females 

 either drop to the ground or dive into the flower head. We found it 

 a good plan to gently touch the ragwort stem with the rim of the 

 net, and catch them as they either flew or fell. It is a restless insect 

 in the pillbox, and should be killed immediately. The species seemed 

 to be peculiarly local ; an equally attractive looking group of ragwort 

 heads at the other side of the wall failed to yield a single specimen, 

 and the same thing was noticed on succeeding nights. In addition, 

 the ragwort produced Agrotis lucernea, N. nmhrosa, T. pronuha, A. 

 oculea, G. ohscurata, L. olivata, G. tncncata, C. bilineata, C. uniden- 

 taria, and a number of " pugs." 



Heather bloom was not very productive, for during August the 

 extreme heat of the summer day was followed frequently by a 

 distinctly chilly night. The only captures were Noctiia xantho- 

 graplia, N. castanea, A. agatliina (four), N. glareosa, N. dahlii (one), 

 C. graminis, C. salidaginis (three), numerous C. testata, and 0. 

 filigrammaria (three) (Sept. 1st). 



Up to 9 a.m. on iVugust 1 3th Vanessa io could be taken freely, 

 feeding on the flowers of hemp agrimony, but after that hour they 

 apparently found some other occupation. The same morning I netted 

 a freshly emerged male Goneptcryx rhamni. This species, formerly 

 considered one of our " common " butterflies, is getting scarcer each 

 year. Tapinostola fulva was out in good time this season, four fresh 

 males being taken on August 14th. Mr. Malhnson reported Charceas 

 graminis and Epineuronia 2^opiilaris abundant at the Windermere 

 lamps, accompanied by second brood examples of L. camelina, N. 

 ziczac, and P. dictceoides. Sugar, which had been unprofitable all 

 the summer, now began to look more hopeful. Our first essay, on 



