CAPTURES AND FIELD REPORTS. 299 



even in the rain. There are very few oaks in the vicinity of St. 

 Martin, and these are all young trees. I have never seen it flying 

 round oaks, but this is no proof that the larva selects any other food 

 plant. Fapilio alexanor was very much commoner at St. Marthi than 

 I have ever noticed on previous visits to that place, but nothing 

 approaching in abundance to its appearance near Digne two years ago. 

 Witli the exception of (Eneis (dlo, fairly common at the Madone 

 Feuestro, I took nothing remarkable besides a well marked and freshly 

 emerged hermaphodite of Melitcm didyma, and, at BoUene, a curious 

 aberration of Lijcicna (irion, with a very light ground colour and broad 

 black marginal borders. At Bastia, in Corsica, I was struck with the 

 abundance of Ariiijnnis pandora and Papilio machaon on waste ground 

 immediately outside the town. I have rarely noticed butterflies so 

 abundant within a few moments' walk of busy town streets. The 

 railway strikes prevented my intended visit to the interior. — Henry C. 

 Lang ; All Saints Vicarage, Southeud-on-Sea. 



Notes on Lepidoptera fko.u WiLTsmRE.— During part of the summer 

 I was staying near Devizes, and the following is a list of some of my 

 captures whilst there. May : — Several specimens of Scotoda ccrtata, 

 caught at dusk flying round Berberis valgaru ; Lijcana argiolm, the first 

 brood was very plentiful. June : — Ltjcmna alms, generally distributed 

 along the foot of the Downs. L. adonis and Procris ijenjon, both in 

 profusion on the slopes of tlie Downs. Agrotis cinerea, one female 

 specimen at rest on wild thyme. Eurijniene dolobraria, one specimen 

 in perfect condition on the top of the Downs far from trees of any 

 kind. L'luEyocampa dpenor and C. poix-iilns and Sphinx liyustri, all 

 taken at honeysuckle towards the end of the month, the former in 

 some numbers. July : — I was so fortunate as to capture two speci- 

 mens of PLasia iiioiu'ta on the wing at dusk — a female on 15th, and a 

 male on 19th. There is plenty of larkspur {Diiphinimii) in the garden, 

 but no monkshood {Avonitmn). I have seen records of the capture of 

 P. moiu'ta this year from Berks and H mts, but this is, I think, the 

 first recorded occurrence of the species in Wilts. This addition to our 

 British Lepidoptera seems to be spreading rapidly through the country. 

 August : — Li/cana vonjdon began to appear in its usual profusion over 

 the Downs at the end of July, and on August 9th I caught my first 

 two specimens of the season of var. sijn'jrapjha (the female variety of 

 L. corijdon with the blue colouring of the male). The commonest 

 form of this variety here has a black discoidal spot in the centre of the 

 fore wings ; some are without this spot ; and I caught one this year 

 with the spot on both fore and hind wmgs. Another not uncommon 

 variety of L. corijdon (female) has white discoidal spots, with or with- 

 out black centres, on fore or hind wings, and sometimes on both. I 

 also caught one female specimen with blue fore wings and brown hind 

 wings. L. alsus was taken in perfect condition this month, and must, 

 I should think, have been a second brood. Emergence of the second 

 brood of L. argiolm and L. adonis was interrupted by bad weather, and 

 they occurred in small numbers only.— (Rev.) C. A. Sladen ; Burton 

 Vicarage, Chester. 



