﻿296 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



alpinellus had survived it, and Aspilates ochrearia was still in 

 excellent condition. I was surprised also to take off sugared 

 marram one example of Dianthoecia ciicuhali and one of D. caj'po- 

 phaga, in each case in very good order. I spent the last two 

 days in inspecting some of the results of the flood, and in having 

 a last determined search (I had made three previous expeditions) 

 for the larvae of Eupithecia extensaria. On my last day, and 

 literally in the last hour, for it was five o'clock, and I was several 

 miles from the place at which I was staying, I came across it. 

 It was quite a satisfactory ending to a holiday. 



NOTES FROM AN ESSEX LEPIDOPTEPJST'S DIARY 



FOR 1911. 



By Paymaster-in-Chief Gervase F.Mathew, R.N., F.E.S., &c. 



(Concluded from p. 268.) 



There was a good deal of wind and rain for the first half of 

 the month of October, and very little outdoor work could be done. 

 On the 10th I noticed that about forty larvse of C. phlceas, which 

 had been hibernating under dead leaves, &c., suddenly began to 

 feed again, and in the course of a few days rapidly increased in 

 size, and I thought they were going to spin up and produce 

 butterflies at the end of the month. One spun up, but failed to 

 change to a pupa ; the others ceased to feed after about a week, 

 and eventually they all died. The mild weather during the 

 middle of the month must have affected them. Collix spartiata 

 began to aj^pear in breeding-cages on 14th. The 18th (St. Luke's 

 Day) was beautifully bright and warm, and the next day much 

 the same up to noon, after which it clouded over. However, it 

 felt very mild, and there was a soft south-westerly breeze ; so I 

 went to the woods and tried sugar. Moths were plentiful, par- 

 ticularly C. vaccina ; the others seen or taken were Agriopis 

 aprilina, Amathes rufina, Scopelosoma satellitia, Agrotis scgetiim, 

 and Miselia oxyacanthce ; also Oporahia dilutata came fluttering 

 round my lamp once or twice. This was my last night in 

 the woods, as the weather became colder, and we had a 

 spell of east and north-east winds. On the 20th C. miata was 

 taken at rest on a wall. On the 25th there was a good deal of 

 sun, though it was by no means warm. I saw P. atalanta flying 

 in a sheltered place. There was a good deal of rain and wind 

 throughout November, but it was mild for the most part, the 

 only frosts being on nights of 11th, 22nd, and 23rd. O. dilutata 

 was bred on the 1st, Hybernia defoliaria on 10th, and H. auraii'- 

 tiaria on 17th. December, generally speaking, was mild, with a 

 large amount of rain and occasionally heavy gales. The only 



