﻿NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 301 



one thing that can be said in their favour, and that is that they are 

 just as fond of the roots of weeds as they are of those of vegetables, and 

 the roots of that dreadful garden pest, the lesser bindweed, are their 

 special favourites. x\t the end of June and beginning of July a 

 smaller larva with similar habits was nearly as plentiful. These 

 produced A. nigricans, of which, fortunately, there appears to be 

 only one brood. — Gervase F. Mathew ; Dovercourt, Essex, August 

 19th, 1912. 



ToRTRix PEONUBANA. — Last year I was able to record the occur- 

 rence of this moth at Weymouth. This year I can do the same for 

 Bournemouth, whei'e it seems to occur in fair numbers. The first 

 specimen emerged on September 4th, the second on September 18th. 

 — (Rev.) W. Claxton ; Navestock, Romford. 



New Forest Notes, 1911. — Having been interested in the 

 fauna — especially the Lepidoptera — of the New Forest and neigh- 

 bourhood for many years, before some of the young fir plantations 

 were planted, it was with pleasure, and I trust profit, that I perused 

 the communications on pages 126 and 158 of the present volume. I 

 recollect the time when all three species of butterflies, viz. Aporia 

 cratcegi, Leucophasia sinapis, and Melanargia galatea, were to be 

 had, but I never knew of either species being in very great abundance, 

 even in their most favoured localities. I have taken A. cratcegi 

 amongst the thorns near Boldre Wood, and the last I saw alive were 

 near Vinney Ridge many years ago, when, with the late Dr. Rake, 

 we were searching for the sword lily {Gladiolus illyricus) at the end 

 of July ; we saw specimens of the butterfly in a very tattered con- 

 dition settling on the thistle-heads, and little supposed it would be a 

 final view ; I believe that was in 1874. L. sinapis I have taken in 

 several parts, but never commonly ; perhaps the best locality was 

 " Stubby," where its poor weak flight was to be seen in the grassy 

 "ridings" of the "copse," where the dingy but then much sought- 

 for A. caliginosa rose in a nervous flutter, soon to descend into its 

 former hiding-place amongst the dry grass-stems, where its plain 

 colour, so like its surroundings, made it difficult to find. Melanargia 

 galatea I have seen near Boldre Wood, and in a damp open space 

 between that place and Lyndhurst, but never in any great numbers, 

 such as are seen in its favoured localities. As to "chalk-loving" 

 species being sometimes found in the Forest, I may mention that on 

 one occasion I took a fine male Lyccena corydon there. I recollect 

 once finding the moon-wort fern {B. lunaria) growing, and a botanical 

 friend was so sceptical on the point that he would not believe in the 

 " chalk-loving plant," as he called it, being found there until I 

 brought home some roots for him, so that there seems to be no 

 absolute rule as to the locality where insect or plant may be 

 occasionally met with. 



The Satyringe, such as Epinephele ianira and its kindred ; the 

 small fritillaries, and others are still plentiful; and that fine butterfly, 

 Argynnis paphia, is still a glorious spectacle as he majestically sweeps 

 about the blossoming brambles, ahvays ready to fight or frolic with 

 a comrade; and since the earlier stages of the lethargic Zephyrus 



ENTOM. — OCTOBER, 1912. 2 A 



