188 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



sugar here very freel}'. Such eommon insects as Agrotis puta, A. 

 e.vclamationis, &c., cover each patch ahnost as soon as laid on. — 

 (Major) Charles Partridge ; The Castle, Portland, June 10. 



[Both Vanessa cardui and Plusia gamma have been very 

 generally abundant this season. In early June I noticed a great 

 abundance of V. cardui, especially on the Essex coast, where P. 

 gamma was equally common. — J. T. C.J 



Abundance of Larv^. — On June 9th, on entering a wood 

 near Holmsley, New Forest, our attention was called to the 

 bareness of the foliage on the oak-trees, and as we approached 

 we observed that for a few hundred yards the trunks were com- 

 pletely surrounded with webs, within and on which there were 

 swarms of larvae of several different sj)ecies. There were several 

 which we could not determine but amongst others were Thecla 

 quercus, Porthesia auriflua, Psilura monacha, Phegalia pedaria, 

 Hyhernia defoliaria, H. aurantiaria, Cemitohla brumata, Oprohria 

 dilutata, Asj^halia I'idens, Tceniocampa stabilis, Catocala sponsa, 

 &c. The leaves were completely stripped from the boughs, 

 except at the tops of the trees. The larvae also occurred plenti- 

 fully, resting on the bracken-fern, and by listening we could hear a 

 distinct rustling of larvae crawling amongst tbe dead leaves on the 

 ground. There had been heavy rain a few days previously, and 

 this, besides the want of food, may have driven the larvae down. 

 On re-visiting the same place a week later there was scarcely a 

 larva to be seen. We should be interested to hear if others 

 have had the same experience. — J. M. Adye and A. Druitt ; 

 Christchurch, June, 1888. 



[There has been in many districts a like abundance this 

 season of lepidopterous larvte, feeding especially upon oaks. 

 Some parts of Epping Forest, and in Surrey and Kent, trees look 

 as naked as in mid- winter. — Ed.]. 



Unusual Pairing. — In October last, whilst sugaring in the 

 Forest of Dean, I took a male Cerastis vaccinii in copula with a 

 female Miselia oxyacanth^e. Unfortunately I neglected to pre- 

 serve the female. Last week I came across a male Euchloe car- 

 damines in union with a female Bapta temerata ; they were bottled 

 together out of the net, and I did not notice anything unusual 

 till I reached home and commenced to pin my captures {vide 

 Entom. 158). — N. F. Searancke ; Mitcbeldean, Gloucestershire, 

 June 3, 1888. 



